Rearing Your Shadow
by Kyhan
Summary: COMPLETE The direct sequal to TLBB&B. The Titans and Crow find robbers suspiciously gone at a robbery. After, they confront their toughest adversary ever. Will they survive long enough to defeat him?
1. The Haze

Chapter 1

The Haze

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

The pitter patter of footsteps in the rain, the smell of fear in their; eyes it looks like they have seen a ghost.

Three robbers run down the street, trying to avoid the cops, and get away from the person who scared them enough to do this. They run into an alley, around a corner, up a fire escape, and into a building.

The building is dark. No one is there.

"You got it?" One asks.

"I dropped it…" the other responds. The passing police car lightens up the room, and his sweat is illuminated.

"HOW COULD YOU DROP IT!" The third screams at him.

"I'm sorry!" the second responds, crying.

"Shhhh!" the first says, and they quiet. No one breathes. You could hear a pin drop, it is so quiet… it is like it's not even raining. There is a band, and a smash. A window just gave way.

"Is it him?" The second asks, trying to whisper, but his voice keeps cracking.

"Maybe…" the first says, putting his hand in his pocket, and fingering a gun.

He jumps the corner, but only sees a cat. A man follows the cat, and 4 others do too. In walk a girl in a hood, a boy with spiky hair, a big man, and a girl with long hair. He walks back to his friends and sits down.

"The Teen Titans are here too!" he whispers to them.

"But where is the other guy?" The second says, finally not crying, "He started to chase us first…"

"Wait… where's Charley?" The first says, looking for the third guy.

"I though he left with you!" The second says aloud, and then he yelps.

"SHH!" the first says, turning back, "You want them to he-" he sees no one there. "Tim?" he says, backing up, he slips, and sees a jet black hand floating in the darkness grab him, and he disappears.

* * *

"Where are they?" Crow asks, on the spot where the robbers were. He sees a puddle where the first was, a wallet here the second was, and a watch where the third sat.

"I thought I saw them come in here," Cyborg says, looking at his arm, "My sensors say there is still an organic being here."

"Maybe the culprit is invisible?" Starfire asks, shining her energy to light the room. There is a groan, and a window shatters.

"TITANS GO!" Robin says, running toward the window, and he sees nothing as he looks out of it.

"It looks like something just shattered it, and didn't leave…" Raven says, looking to the sky. Nothing. She turns back, and puts up her hood.

"But I still SMELL someone!" Beast Boys says, turning into a dog.

"Drop it, we lost this one," Cyborg says, and he turns back.

Beast Boy mopes back, and out of the room, and they go into the pouring rain.

"I have a hunch…" Crow says to Raven, and no one notices, that in Raven's hood, behind her ear, 2 blood-red eyes float in the shadow.

* * *

They arrive at the tower, and Beast Boy yawns, as he jumps on the couch, and is joined by Cyborg.

"Oh yeah! Game time!" Cyborg says, Grabbing a controller, and Crow jumps on the couch as well. He and Beast Boy turn on the Game Box 603 and turn on the first person shooter, "Donut 2."

"Co-op?" Crow asks.

"Nope," Cyborg says, making a headset pop out of his head, and plug into the controller. The others put on headsets, and log onto "Game Box – Alive' to play other people.

"Boys and their videogames," Raven says, to Starfire.

"Actually, the Video Games are quite fun," Starfire says, smiling.

"I'd be playing, but we haven't bought Crow his own controller, so we have no more," Robin says, holding a Slurpy he got on the way home.

"Yeah, well, if you're being killed by a demon or villain, video game skills REALLY don't help," Raven says.

"Yes, but I am still wondering what happened to the three robbers," Starfire says, trying to think.

"It won't matter," Robin says, lying back in a chair, "We'll get them next time they make a robbery."

"Yes we will," Starfire says, yawning.

"Well, nice game guys," Crow yawns, "Getting late."

"Yeah," Beast Boy says, "Hay, Crow, remember last week, when you and I said we'd catch that guy who possessed me?" Beast Boy says, walking with him in the hall, leaving Cyborg behind.

"Yeah," Crow nods.

"Any leads?" Beast Boy asks.

"Well, I don't know, but the robber thing, it gave me an idea…" Crow says, thinking back.

"What?" Beast Boy says. Cyborg is behind them, and heard the whole thing.

"Who is it?" he says, putting his head between them.

"There was a guy, when I was locked in Hell," Crow begins.

"YOU WERE IN HELL?" Cyborg asks.

"Oh, did I fail to mention that? Well, I got kicked from heaven once I got ratted out for my plan about Raven," He says, scratching his head, with a nervous smile on his face, "Anyway, I was locked up in Limbo, because I was strong, and that was the only place I could be held."

"Okay," Beast Boy says, actually paying attention.

"Well, I had a cellmate, who was an amazingly powerful warlord," He says, "And he had an escape plan. He uses his powers to get us out, I make a distraction, and then he opens a portal for me to just jump through so I can escape to earth with him, so we can do what we want with each other's help."

"Well, how do you know you could trust him? I mean, with enough power to escape from the jails in Limbo, it would be easy for this guy to leave you," Cyborg explains.

"Well, I was told he is a man of his word. He never betrays his friends," Crow explains, and Cyborg nods, "Well, anyway, we escaped and I had to do a distraction. What I did was I double crossed him, and didn't distract the guards. They got him, and I escaped. But he saw me escape, and he said, he would get back at me."

"You tricked someone with that much power?" Beast Boy asks.

"Well, your powers are disabled within a fencing, and he was going to get out of the fencing and use his powers." Crow closes his eyes. "Freedom from that place was awesome…" he smiles.

"Well, who was he?" Cyborg asks.

"His name was-" The alarm goes off.

"SHIT!" Beast Boy says in anger, "I was going to sleep!"

"Crime doesn't sleep, BB," Crow says, running back to the main room.


	2. The Trap

Chapter 2

The Trap

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them. 

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"SHIT!" Beast Boy says in anger, "I was going to sleep!"

"Crime doesn't sleep, BB," Crow says, running back to the main room. Cyborg follows him.

"What is happening?" Starfire asks Robin.

"I… I-it doesn't say." Robin looks baffled. Never before has this happened. The computer always says at least something about the crime, but this… says nothing…

"That's new," Raven says, raising one eyebrow.

"Any location?" Cyborg asks.

"Yeah," Robin says, pausing.

"Where?" Beast Boy asks.

"Here…" he says in shock. He removes his mask, and looks at the others. Starfire looks shocked. He's never removed it before… "The disturbance is IN the tower…"

"That's…" Crow looks for a word, "New…"

"Yes…" Starfire says.

"Well…" Robin starts, putting his mask on, "Titans… go?"

The titans break up into 3 groups. The groups are Cyborg and Beast Boy, Robin and Raven, and Crow and Starfire. Each goes to a different part of the tower to search.

Crow and Starfire search the bottom of the tower, Cyborg and Beast Boy search the top, and Raven and Robin search the middle.

* * *

"What time is it?" Beast Boy asks Cyborg. He yawns. 

"Midnight… exactly…" he says, looking at his arm.

"Damn people, attacking at night…" Beast Boy says, as Cyborg shines the light in front of them.

A man stands in the corridor. He is the third robber from earlier. He wears a ski cap, and a jacket. He has gloves with no fingertips, and wears jeans. He would be normal, if he had a human face. His face is jet black.

"That is not normal…" Cyborg says, stepping back.

"I'm not that stupid…" Beast Boy says, walking back with Cyborg.

"The dark lord has returned…" He says, sinking down into the ground. He laughs as he sinks down into a shadow.

"The what!" Beast Boy screams nervously.

"I think that might have been that guy Crow told us about…" Cyborg says.

"And he's come to earth to resurrect a big demon like Trigon, but stronger!" Beast Boy screams.

"We don't know that…" Cyborg turns, and bumps into the man.

"Shade!" He screams, as Cyborg's light shines in his face.

"NO SHADE HERE BITCH!" He says, pressing a button on his arm, making a large spotlight pop out of his chest. He turns it on, and the man screams, and backs up. He holds his eyes, and smoke rises from him. He sinks down, and disappears.

"So, light kills him?" Beast Boy asks.

"I guess so…" Cyborg says, putting the light away, "I can't do that for so long, so I hope he thinks I can."

"I get it, so he stays away!" Beast Boy says, and Cyborg nods.

* * *

"This is weird…" Raven says to Robin. 

"I know."

"No, I mean, REALLY weird. Why would the computer say there was something here? First, who would rob us, and second, who would pull our alarm, and make a police report that there was something going on here?" Raven asks.

Robin understands completely. She's right. It is impossible. The only place to activate a distress signal in the tower that goes to the computer IS the computer, and also, the computer picks up police radio and puts the spots they are talking about on the map. "You're right… this is impossible…" Robin says, "Unless someone was in the room, and used this as a distraction…"

Raven hears a creak. A man stands behind them. Robin throws an ice disc, but it passes through the man, and freezes a wall.

The man is the first robber from earlier, and like the last one, he too has a jet-black face. Robin looks in horror.

"What is that?" Raven asks in fear.

"I don't know…" He looks at the man, and the man steps forward.

"…He comes for his revenge on the one who betrayed him…" The man keeps walking.

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHOS!" Raven screams, and she slams a piece of wall on the man. It hits, but then he disappears.

"Where did he go?" Robin asks, as the jewel on Raven's head begins to stop shining black.

Before it fades out completely, The man jumps out of the black energy, and punches her.

"FUCK!" She screams, and falls back. She catches herself, and stops for a second.

"YAH!" Robin screams, making a sword with two bird-a-rangs, and slashes at him. The man disappears into Robin's shadow.

"They can combine with any darkness…" she says.

"How do you-"

"It hitched a ride in my powers, and your shadow. Do you have anything better?" She looks around.

"Good point…" a hand bursts out of Robin's shadow, and pulls him down. Raven uses her powers to flip a light switch on.

"GAH!" The man screams, as he begins to smoke, and then disappears.

"That's much better…" Robin says, rubbing his ankle.

* * *

Crow and Starfire walk in the bottom of the tower, looking for the man. 

"… So, that's how I defeated the dragon empire," Crow says, walking ahead of Starfire.

"Thank you for telling me that story," Starfire says, walking up to him.

"What are you doing? What if we get attacked head on?" he asks.

"I can use my powers as a light," she says, shining her hand.

"Okie dokie," he walks on. He sighs.

"Are you okay?" Starfire asks, and he nods.

"Just tired," he says, and she turns back to the hall. She sees a man.

"Who are you?" she asks.

The man, like the others, has a jet-black face.

"… He draws closer with every step I take…" the man says, and Crow turns his arm into a sword.

Crow lunges at him, and the man becomes shadow. He sinks into the ground, and appears behind him. He punches Crow in the back of the neck, and knocks him down.

"AH!" Crow screams, and he gets up.

Starfire shoots a ball of energy at him, and it eats through him. The robber screams, and the energy hits the wall behind him. He melts his wound away, and cringes at them.

"Strange… that hurt…" the man says, and he looks delighted, "I can speak on my own? Master gave me a free will?" he looks at the opponents, and he laughs. He slams into Starfire. "That hurt ya' hoe!"

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Crow screams, and he grabs the robber.

"Really?" he sinks down into the shadow, and Crow's powers stay in his outline.

He rises in front of Crow and he punches him in the face. Crow falls, his nose bleeding.

"It worked before…" Starfire says, and she hits 2 energy balls together. There is a blast that illuminates the room, and the shadow man disappears, screaming.

"Shit…" Crow says, getting up, and looking at Starfire, "Keep a light please…"

Starfire opens a communicator and Robin appears on it.

"TITANS! REPORT OT THE MAIN ROOM! AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!"


	3. Light Only Lasts SO Long…

Chapter 3

Light Only Lasts SO Long…

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Starfire opens a communicator and Robin appears on it.

"TITANS! REPORT OT THE MAIN ROOM! AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!" Robins image is held beneath him, and he is looking down into the communicator he holds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"HURRY! Flip the next switch!" Raven screams at Robin, as he flips the switch for the next hallway up, so the light goes on in that one too.

They arrive in the main room, which is pitch black, and turn the light and computer on. Robin begins to type on the keyboard, and Raven watches as the hall they just left's light blacks out.

"ROBIN! KEEP THE LIGHT ON!" She screams, and Robin nods. He throws a quarterstaff to her, so she can hold up the light switch from the doorway.

Robin continues typing, and looking in the files of villains for anyone who can DO this. He passes Trigon's files, and shakes his head. Gizmo? "No." he slams his head on the keyboard. This is a new opponent all right.

Raven gasps as a figure runs down the hall at the door. 'Is it one of the intruders?' she thinks to herself…

* * *

"DAMN IT, CYBORG! KEEP THE SPOTLIGHT ON!" Beast Boy screams as they run down the stairs to the middle floor. They should then come to the hall leading directly to the main room.

"I CAN'T!" He screams as the man appears in front of him, and punches him out. The one following Robin and Raven appears next to him, and they high-five each other.

"Fuck, there are two?" Beast Boy asks himself, as he turns into the beast, and tackles them. He roars, and tears them apart. Unfortunately, they sink into the shadows, and then cover him in a layer of darkness.

Cyborg stands up, and fires his cannon into them. They screech in pain, and disappear.

"DAMN!" Beast Boy screams, and they run into the main hall. They run as fast as possible, and the shadow men follow them.

Beast Boy, runs ahead, and sees Raven looking into the hall, directly at him. He smiles, as he runs into the light, and she slams a quarter staff into his face, knocking him into the hall again.

"GANG WAY!" Cyborg screams, running down the hall, and over Beast Boy who was knocked into the middle of the hall. The men appear in front of him, and he fires a sonic cannon blast at them.

The blast eats through them, and goes until it hits the light. Raven sees the blast, and uses a shield to protect herself, as Cyborg picks up Beast Boy, and runs into the room.

"OH MY GOD!" Raven says aloud, seeing that she almost killed Beast Boy. She heals him, and then he hugs her. "Okay, can I undo the healing?" She asks herself, and eh lets go.

"Was that thing chasing you too?" Robin asks.

"Thing? You mean THINGS! There are two of the little fuckers!" Cyborg screams to Robin, and he looks shocked.

"Then that means that Crow and Starfire are in deep trouble…"

* * *

Crow screams as he holds Starfire ahead of him with his powers using her as a lamp. He sees the door leading to the stairway, and runs toward them. The man stops them, but the light hits him.

"BACK SHADOW MAN! BACK!" he says, as Starfire makes the wave of energy again, and eliminates the man again. He pushes though the doors, and looks as he sees two other shadow men.

"We are in the deep shit now…" Starfire says, as the third joins them. The third laughs, and the others laugh along with him.

"What's so funny?" Crow asks them, and the last to join speaks.

"We have you overpowered…" He says to crow, and Crow smiles.

"I don't see it that way…" He uses his powers to flick a light switch on, and the three of them scream. Smoking, they disappear.

"Thank you," Starfire says, and hugs him.

"PLEASE!" He jumps away from her, and begins to walk up the stairs. She follows.

"You know, I used to be jealous that Raven had you, and I didn't," she says, looking away.

Crow shrugs. "Well, I thought you had Robin…" Crow says, looking forward, eyes wide. He is afraid of her more than he is of the men.

"Yes, but you are understanding of women!" she appears in front of him, and he jumps back, almost falling down the stairs, "I remember, I could tell Raven liked the way you… did… t- that…" She says, pointing down, and he blushes, stepping back.

"Urm," He looks at her like she's insane. "You don't understand, I have ALWAYS liked Raven, and she is my girlfriend, and you are her friend."

"What? I thought you were my friend! I am not your friend?" She asks.

"Nooooo," He looks around for an explanation, "I am Raven's… LOVER, and a LOVER is called a GIRLFRIEND." He starts to make sexual hand gestures and nods, "I… fuck… my GIRLFRIEND." He stops, and she nods. "You are my… FEMALE FRIEND," he makes sexual gestures again but shakes his head instead, "I DO NOT fuck my FEMALE FRIENDS," he puts his hands down.

"Oh… no, I mean the kissing too," She says and he begins to sweat.

"It is the same thing, except, One, I can't use those hand movements, and, Two, it is slightly less of an extreme." He walks on.

"Then she won't get as an-"

"DAMN IT, STARFIRE! I DON'T LIKE YOU THAT WAY!" he walks a step up, and gets pulled into his shadow.

His hand stays out of it, and Starfire pulls him out, and he breathes for air. "I guess we can't stay away from all shadows…" She walks on, angry.

"Ok, this is better than you groping me…" He smiles, and walks on. They open the door to the next floor, and are greeted by the three shadow men.

"No place to go…" one says, and punches Crow.

"STARFIRE USE THOSE ENERGY… THINGS!" Crow says, as one of the shadow men holds him down.

"No." she walks off, and the talking shadow tackles her.

"Hey baby…" it says into her ear as it begins to pull her skirt off. She screams, and blasts the fuck out of them all.

Crow stands up, charred, and runs for the door. He stops, and stops Starfire too, "Robin's a much better guy anyway," he says, and he runs into the light room. She agrees and follows.

* * *

Crow and Starfire run into the room. Crow hugs Raven, and Robin hugs Starfire.

"There are three of those bastards," Pants crow.

"Oh god…" Raven says.

"What the fuck are those guys?" Beast Boy asks.

"I think they may be that guy Crow told us about," Cyborg says, "What were his powers?"

"Well, I don't know… but they can't be. There was only one. And he looked human, no different from Robin. He had the same hair, but a scar on his cheek, and on the other was a mole. He was a sorcerer, so I don't think he would do this." Crow says.

"Tell us about this man," Starfire says.

"All right," Crow says, and he tells them the story.

"Well, I think we're safe in the light," Robin says, and h goes back to the computer.


	4. Nothing to Fear

Chapter 4

Nothing to Fear

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"Well, I think we're safe in the light," Robin says, and he goes back to the computer. Crow however, walks toward the doorway.

The 3 men are standing there, trying to enter the room, but when they reach toward him, they burn up, and disappear. He watches them, their eyes burning from the sight of the light.

'What was his power?' Crow thinks to himself, 'Was it the power to make as many lackeys as he needs? To make them made from shadow?'

"I don't know either," Raven says, next to him, "But that's not our primary concern right now… these things can use my power like they do shadows!"

"WHAT?" He asks in shock.

"Yes… this is very serious…" she bites her finger, and looks at him. His eyes look brave and strong, and she is comforted by the knowledge that these eyes belong to her boyfriend, who wouldn't even let mortality get in his way of being with her. These eyes will protect her with all their owner's life, and more.

Raven leans on his shoulder, and feels a warmth come over her. "We will find a way to defeat these people, and when we do, we will find out EXACTLY who sent them, and make them pay…"

"Hey, you two, get over here!" Cyborg says to them, and they let go of each other, and go to the others.

"What is this?" Beast Boy says after a long silence.

"Dark matter… Basically it's like shadow, but it has different qualities. Some of which are unknown. But all we know is that it can shift, change its hardness, and merge with shadow…"

"No one knows what is to happen to a life form who consumes it, or becomes exposed to the raw material," Starfire says, surprisingly knowing a lot.

"We do now," Cyborg says.

"Those people?" Robin asks, in fear.

"No, they had it over their skin. Like a suit," Cyborg says, holding up the slide, which has a black spot on it. The computer screen shows the spot is pulsating, and has tentacles growing from the cell, "Though, the puzzling thing is i-"

"IT'S ALIVE!" Beast Boy says, finishing the sentence, and pointing to the screen, and the cell is beginning to take shape, and struggle. The slide on the microscope shatters, and a small bead of shadow flies across the room, and into the dark hall.

"Interesting…" Crow says, and Raven holds him in fear.

"No matter what these things can do," Cyborg says, looking at the others, and Robin finishes for him.

"They're only human…" He looks at the door.

"But you're forgetting that there's a shit load of LIVING dark matter covering them all!" Beast Boy screams in frustration.

"Then under it, there is still the human that was converted because of this dark matter?" Starfire asks, and everyone look at her, astonished.

"That's…" Robin asks, "Do Tamoranians study dark matter?"

"Yes, I studied it for my mlach class in my glarnor." Everyone looks at her strangely. "I believe it is called 'mlach' is called 'science project' and 'glarnor' is called 'school' on earth."

The team stops looking at her, and Crow turns. He chants "Azarath Metreon Zinthi" and his clothes shift. They look like a more battle suited uniform, which is gray. He looks kind of like a ninja, except for he has a cape, and is weaponless.

"What are you doing?" Raven asks him, and he looks at her

"We can't live our lives afraid of 3 piece of shit shadow men," he looks at the others. "I'm going to find a way to defeat these bastards, and anyone who wants to help, can come, with me."

"I'll go," Beast Boy says, stepping forward.

"BB's gonna need some back-up" Cyborg says, stepping up with him.

"I'm helping…" Raven says, and Crow nods.

"We're going too," Robin and Starfire walk forward.

"All right, two of us to a person," Robin says, and they all walk into the hall.

"THERE THEY ARE!" One of the men says, pointing to the Titans, and they run at them.

"SPLIT!" Robin says, and the BB, Cyborg, Raven and Crow run past the men.

The two get to the end of the hall, and split ways, leading different men after both, and lead them to different areas of the tower. Now, they can fight, and the shadow men cannot assist each other.

"TI-" Robin starts.

"TA" Cyborg continues.

"NS" Raven finishes.

"GO!" Every titan in the tower screams and they run head first into battle.


	5. Beastly Revenge

Chapter 5

Beastly Revenge

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Cyborg and Beast Boy stare into he dark man's eyes, which are illuminated more than anything else in the hall.

The man is calm. He doesn't find this a serious threat, and begins to walk back to the other men.

"Where're you goin'?" Cyborg asks the man.

"I was returning to my comrades. It seems you two fighting me is already futile, and thus, I will spare you the humiliation of dying to a mere pawn," He groans, not noticing that now he has free speech.

"Asshole…" Beast Boy lunges at him, turning into a horse, and is stopped by a single finger.

"Yawn," the man says, tossing him across the hall.

"Oh yeah? EAT THIS!" Cyborg screams, turning on his spotlight, and flashing the man with it. He begins to burn and steam rises from his body, as he struggles to hold form.

He walks against the light with extreme difficulty, and reaches Cyborg, and unplugs it from his battery.

"Now, isn't that better?" it says, kneeing him in the groin.

"GAK!" Cyborg screams, as he falls to the ground.

"DUDE!" Beast Boy screams as he transforms into the beast. Upon sight of this, the man bows to it, and Beast Boy scratches his head in confusion. He then charges at the lackey, and knocks him a distance away.

"My mistake, you are not the master… I forgot that he no longer was manipulating you…" he smiles, and puts his hand into the floor, and it pops up behind Beast Boy, and punches him in the back of the neck.

Cyborg stands up, and charges at the man, who stands back facing him. He turns just to see Cyborg's sonic cannon blast through his face, and Cyborg slam into his body.

The man falls to the ground and screams, gripping the sides of the hole in his face, with a bloodcurdling scream, and what sounds like cries for his mommy, and master.

"What the hell?" Beast Boy approaches the body that is curled into a fetal position, and pokes it's chest, and it screams. His finger went through the layer of dark matter, and hit the man's heart. "What is this guy?" he asks wiping blood off of his finger.

The man removes his hands from his face, revealing a hole going through his head. You can clearly see his brain, and parts of his skull. It looks like a picture of the anatomy of a human skull.

The hole begins to heal, as the dark matter spreads over the wound, looking as if the man was wearing mesh over the hole. Then you clearly can see that the flesh under heals, and makes it look as if nothing happened at all.

"BB, that's it!" Cyborg says, and Beast Boy only now takes in what the man said about the beast.

He is working for the man who controlled him.

Beast Boy transforms into a new beast. This time, it looks like a cross between Beast Boy, and a dragon. He charges at the man, who doesn't even flinch, and rams a claw trough his chest.

He picks up the man with the claw, and throws him into a wall, and he cracks it slightly. Cyborg turns on the lights to a lighter dimmer, just enough that the man cannot disappear.

The man smiles, and looks at him. The smile, somehow, can be seen even though it looks like his dark matter makes it look like he has a solid layer of skin. "You found it out… I guess I need some help…" he puts his hand on the floor, and begins to chant.

"What the…?" Cyborg says, as a pillar of darkness surrounds the opponent, and he begins to get more demonic looking. His dark matter skin becomes an aura-like mist surrounding him, and his looks more resemble a dark night, rather than a man with pitch-black skin. One arm looks as if it has been impaled with many spikes. He smiles again, this time, the smile cannot be seen at all, but assumed because that's how Cyborg and Beast Boy see what he would do in the situation.

The man now draws a small sword from his arm, and clutches it in his hand. The handle then morphs and merges with his closed hand, making it look like the hand is one solid ball, and that the sword is a natural appendage. He runs at an incredible speed at Beast Boy, and his blade clashes with Beast Boy's claw.

They have a power struggle, and the man kicks out of it. Cyborg starts to go through his mainframe to see what weapons he can use to counter this. He smiles, and he takes out a small floppy disc.

The floppy disc says "Beta Energy Sword," stating that he has never used it before now. He plugs it into his head, and his metal shifts to a knight-like armor as well, and his cannon blasts out a sword of sonic energy, the same as his blast, except so concentrated that it feels as if it is solid.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy isn't doing so well. He has cuts all over his arms, and transforms back to his human form. The man lifts his sword over his head to do a finishing blow, and Cyborg runs, and kneels over his green friend, catching the sword with his own.

They clash, and Cyborg reverses the stances, putting the intruder in the lower position. Cyborg puts his other arm up, and prepares a sonic blast, and the man, surprisingly, does the same. They blast, and are propelled back as black shadow hits bright blue energy. One of the man's spikes breaks off as he hits the ground. He gets up, and charges at, the once again standing, Cyborg.

Now, Beast Boy wakes up, and clutches his wounds. He notices that now, he is behind the man, who is clashing with the Knight Cyborg. He also sees one of the man's spikes is on the ground. He picks it up, and imagines what he could do with it.

He could nail it into his neck like a steak… no it would only merge with him again… He could turn it into an Axe! No, it wouldn't do much.

"ERR!" he grunts in frustration, and slams it into his forehead. It then begins to surround him, and he becomes completely black like the man. HE looks down, and starts to scream, but stops himself so the man doesn't hear… He has an advantage…

'New powers and a surprise…' he thinks, concentrating, and turning his arm into a sword. He then morphs into a senator, and gallops toward the opponent.

Cyborg is cornered. He has fallen, and the man holds his blade to his face, like a samurai. He is about to raise it above his head, but stopped with it between his eyes.

"Now, in the name of my master, I shall kill you…" he says, and a dark figure races behind him, "LONG LIVE S-"

Beast Boy passes, holding his sword out, slicing his head off, and breaking the man's blade. The shard of the blade hits the ground right beside Cyborg's face. Beast boy stops, and sighs, transforming back. Meanwhile, the dark matter on the man's body begins to sink into the ground, and leave his body, leaving only a skeleton with the second robber's clothes on, behind.

"HOLY SHIT!" Cyborg screams, looking at Beast Boy.

"Revenge…" he gasps.

"How'd you do that?" Cyborg asks.

"I just slammed the guy's horn into my head in frustration, and it turned me into that…"

"We need to get you to the medical wing…"

"We NEED to help the others!" Beast Boy says walking down the hall. "Don't worry, I won't use that again." He says, "It was creepy… I heard a voice yelling at me to get rid of the powers, and I felt like I was trapped in the dark… And I heard someone say…"

"Say what?"

"Shade."


	6. Fire Bird

Chapter 6

Fire Bird

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Robin stands beside Starfire, looking at the opponent. The Man remains calm, as Robin growls at him. Starfire readies a star bolt, and her eyes become green.

"Shoot…" The Man says, breaking the silence.

Starfire releases her star bolt and shoots her energy from her eyes, and Robin throws his discs at him.

The man smiles, and changes his main body shape. He looks like a cheap knock off of Starfire. The man then fires a black star bolt at them, and blasts red energy from his eyes.

Starfire gets locked into a power struggle with him, as Robin's discs fly straight through him.

"Foolish mortals. I cannot believe I was once this stupid…" the man says, as he sinks into his energy, and appears face to face with Starfire, who in shock, stops shooting. He punches her in the face, and she falls back, revealing Robin.

Robin swings his sword into the man's face, and knocks him back. He heals as if it were nothing, and stands as if he wasn't touched at all.

"This is no use!" Robin says, helping Starfire up.

"He just keeps regenerating…" Starfire says, faintly.

"We can't give up. Whoever sent this thing, I will not rest until I am either dead, or they are stopped…"

"The first option can be arranged…" the man punches Robin in the back of the neck, knocking him down.

"Seriously, the other guys were stronger!" the man appears in front of Starfire "I don't know how I couldn't beat you and that other boy…" he raises his arm, forming a very demonic looking blade.

"STARFIRE!" Robin screams, as blood spurts up, as the blade pierces the tiles.

Starfire screams in pain, and closes her eyes. She opens them, and looks confused. Shouldn't she have died?

"SHIT! I MISSED!" the man says, holding a sword which impales Starfire's shoulder, "I was aiming for decapitation…"

With her good hand, Starfire punches the man with all her might, knocking him against a wall.

"Starfire, are you okay?" Robin asks, running over to her. He bandages up her shoulder, and they turn to face the man.

Starfire raises a star bolt to the man's face. "Tell me who it is who sent you, or it will be you who is to die," She says, and he gulps.

"You don't know him…" the man says, smiling. The shadow sinks off of his body, revealing Robin.

She looks next to herself, and the man stands where Robin did. He punches her, and kicks Robin in the face.

"You damn humans have had this planet too long! Time for us to take over…" the man says, taking his mind off of them for a split second. Just long enough for Starfire to blast him through the chest.

"STARFIRE, FIRE BIRD MANOOVER!" he makes 2 swords and stabs them into his boots, (so that if he kicked something, it would hurt them) and grabs Starfire's waist. The hovers horizontally, and takes 2 swords of her own from Robin. She empowers them with star bolt energy, and readies an eye blast.

They both face the man, and Starfire flies full speed at him. Robin swipes him with his boots, and she swipes him with the supped up swords, as she blasts him with her eyes.

The man falls to the ground. He lies there, moaning in pain, bleeding. Starfire takes one of the swords, and impales him through the back, pinning him to the ground.

Robin turns the lights up so that they are dim, just as Cyborg did.

"Awwwww!" the man moans, and Robin stomps on his back.

"Who sent you?" he says, grinding his boot into his back.

"GAH!" the man screams, and he blasts Robin in the face. Unfortunately for him, he is still pinned down.

"Tell us or you must suffer!" Starfire says, impaling him with a second sword.

"AHH-NEVER!" he screams, and she impales him with another. Robin stands up, his mask destroyed.

"Alright, tell us or we'll kill you…" Robin says, placing his foot on the man's head.

"The dark lord…" he starts to say, and then he screams in pain. Robin didn't do anything to hurt him that time.

"What is going on?" Starfire asks Robin, and a fourth man appears in the room.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Robin screams at the man. The new man destroys the lights making only his glowing red eyes visible.

"MASTER! HAVE MERCY!" The man screams in the dark, his red eyes visible now too. Robin throws a bird-a-rang at the new man's eyes, but they disappear for a second. All of a sudden, Robin feels a sharp pain in his back, and falls. He watches on the ground as the man's eyes appear.

Starfire illuminates the room, making it slightly visible. The new man impales the old one with its arm, and the old man lets out a bloodcurdling scream, as he is separated with his skeletal system.

The lights flash on, and only the old man's skeleton remains, with trace amounts of flesh around the hall, which is now covered in blood.

Robin looks in horror, as he lies on the ground, looking at what happened, trying to make sense of it.

"That was the leader…" Robin says in horror, reaching toward his back. He feels his hand is wet, and he pulls his bird-a-rang out of his spine, now giving him back the ability to use his legs. He sees his hand is covered in his blood, and that his back is gushing blood.

Starfire helps him up, and helps him to the skeleton.

Starfire bandages Robin and forms a tourniquet on his back, stopping the blood loss. He stumbles to the end of the hall, and falls over.

"Star, go on and help the others… I can't fight anymore…" Robin sighs, closing his eyes.

"But Robin, what about their leader? What if he is to return?"

"Just go…" Robin says, "If you stay, the others may not be as lucky, they need all the help they can get…"

Robin closes his eyes, and drifts out of conciseness.

He dreams. Not a dream… a nightmare.

_He sees the new man, what looks like a supped up Slade, and a Tamoranian man. They were fighting Cyborg, and Cyborg is now locked down, unable to move. He can't move either._

_The men laugh to each other, and the Slade-like figure throws him off the tower…_

He wakes up in shock, sweating. He is alone… He is afraid… He whispers a word, that has just come to him mind randomly…

"Shade."


	7. The Last of the Haze

Chapter 7

The of the Haze

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them. 

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Crow and Raven stand in the hall way, facing the man. No one moves. 

Finally, Crow breaks the silence. "Raven, you need to use the Azarath Metreon Zinthar."

"But it's the second weakest of the four 'Azarath Metreon Zinth' spells!" Raven says, looking at him in anger.

"Well, you can't use Zinthos, because he can travel through it, and Zinthan is WAY too weak. And if I recall correctly, you can use Zinthi anymore." He says, with a stern look on his face.

"Fine…" she says, looking back at the opponent, who is now yawning.

"You two done?" he asks, a bored sound in his voice.

"Yep…" Crow says, "AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" he screams, and beams of light-gray thunder start pouring from his fingertips.

Raven sighs, and starts to levitate "Azarath Metreon Zinthar…" she says, and blue energy starts to fly from her fingers like Crow's did.

"SHIT!" the man says, tearing a part of the wall off, and using it as a shield.

The man holds it, and sits down, as if he were in a military bunker. He then flattens, and drifts across the ceiling.

Raven sees this, and stabs him with one of her bolts.

He falls from the wall, and onto his back. He looks up, and smiles.

"That hurt…" he says, and he sinks and rises behind Raven "But just like a bee sting…" he says, licking her neck. She feels paralyzed as he sent a spike into her spine.

She falls to her knees, and Crow lunges over her, kicking the man in the face.

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" he screams, and he surrounds the man in a gray energy orb.

"WHAT!" he screams, trying to phase out. Crow helps raven up, and she blasts into the orb. The orb fills with her blue energy, and the man inside screams.

It feels like he's covered in a billion angry bees, all stinging him.

He's always been afraid of bee stings…

"STOP! PLEASE!" he screams, in tears. The tears are light, and he is darkness.

"Stop Raven…" Crow says, and she calls off the blue energy.

The man falls in the orb crying, in a fetal position. He flashes memories of being covered in bees, and stung repeatedly.

"What's wrong with him?" Raven asks.

"He must be the weakest of the three…"

"HEY!" she screams, and the man comes back to reality.

"WHAT!" he says, and black spikes come out of his body.

"We want to talk to you."

"Oh…" the spikes sink back, and he sits down, calmly.

"Who are you?" Crow asks in a friendly voice.

"Oh, my name's Tim," He says forgetting that he should be trying to kill them.

"Tim?" Raven asks in confusion, "He has a human name?"

"Tim, why are you like this?" Crow asks, "How did you get these powers?"

"Oh, Charley, Jack, and me were robbing that museum the other day, and went into this warehouse to hide. In the shadow, we heard you guys, and then Charley disappeared, and then I was pulled into the wall, and into a pitch-black world. I then saw Charley, and then Tim. We then saw a shilouette of a man… he had blowing blood-red eyes… He said we were 'The Haze'…" Tim says, shaking, "And then I remember standing in this hall, yawning…"

"But…" Crow said, baffled.

"Wait, you don't know why you're fighting us?" Raven asks.

"Nope."

They both sigh, and let Tim out of the orb. He smiles, and thanks them. He starts to walk away, when he stiffens up, and looks as if he was stabbed through the spine. He turns around, and his eyes are glowing blood-red.

Crow cannot forget these eyes. A few months ago, they had attempted to kill him… They are the same eyes that the beast that controlled Beast Boy had. Fear strikes Crow instantly, and he sends out a blast, screaming "AZARATH METREON ZINTHI! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!"

The blasts hit Tim head on, and tear him apart.

Then, all the pieces combine again, and form his body once again.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? THIS WORLD!" Tim says, His fingers shooting out and impaling Crow's arms, nailing him to the wall. His Fingers are currently about 20 yards long.

"TIM! STOP!" Raven screams.

"Fuck off, bitch," he says, looking at her with a terrifying look, "He is a con artist! He tried to kill you! He will again! HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO HELL!" he screams, and he sends a large wave of darkness into her, knocking her through a wall, and out of the tower.

"BASTARD! WHO ARE YOU!" Crow says, Sending out a gigantic blast, destroying the walls and ceiling of part of the T on the tower making it only floor.

Right when this is about to hit Tim head on, the eyes go back to normal, and Tim screams as his flesh, and darkness is torn from his skeleton.

Raven stands up, most of her clothes torn. She covers herself with her cloak, and runs to Crow.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know…" Crow says, looking at the moonlit sky. It is beautiful, stars are out, and a meteor shower is going on. The moon is large, and full. Yet, he doesn't smile at this beauty… he has a horrified expression on his face…

"Whoever it is… they have a grudge against me…" he says, as the other Titans run to the area, and stand in the ruins of the left half of the top of the tower, looking at the sky, as if it is the calm before the storm…


	8. The Calm

Chapter 8

The Calm

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

Hello, and I'm sorry for my absence and lack of writing chapters. I've been occupied with the cancellation of Teen Titans and schoolwork, and some other crap like that. Anywho, I'm back, and I WILL finish this fic, and the whole "Crow Series" and then follow them by other fics. Thank you, the few of you who have awaited my addition, for it is here.

And now, the (possibly) highly anticipated Chapter 8.

GxJxR

* * *

The other Titans run to the area where Crow and Raven stand, the ruins of the left half of the top of the tower, looking at the sky, as if it is the calm before the storm…

"What happened here?" Beast Boy says, breaking the silence.

"Uh," Crow starts, looking at him. "I really don't know. I killed that guy, but he seemed…"

"Human." Raven walks in front of him, she reminds herself not to open her cloak and reveal her barely clothed body. "Well, at least for a little while. Then he got the same eyes as the beast that took over Beast Boy had a month ago."

"Those eyes…" Beast Boy says, cringing at the words. "Crow, we promised to take him down together."

"I didn't forget, man," says Crow, stepping forward and giving him a noogie.

"Yo, man, what is Shade?" Cyborg asks him, slapping him on the back.

Crow looks at him, and there is an awkward silence. "Uh… the shadow of stuff?"

Robin walks toward him. "No, the things… we heard the word 'Shade' when they all died…"

Crow's eyes widen in intrigue. "Shade… shade shade shade… I dunno…" he says, pacing, and finally planting a kiss on Raven's cheek. "I wonder if it's him…" Crow says, walking back to the main part of the tower.

"Who?" Raven asks him, hovering low to the ground.

"Raven, I recall you asking me about a book when Beast Boy was attacking me…"

"Uh… It's in my room…" Raven says, innocently, "Wanna' come with me to get it?"

"Not now, babe. Tonight." He says, kissing her.

"Aww, okay," she smiles, kissing him back.

* * *

"What is the shade?" Starfire asks, sitting on the couch as crow sets up a projector on the TV. He shuffles through some photocopies of the pages of the book, and places them on the projector.

"I'm not certain," Crow says, placing one sheet onto the projector. It is written in a very unusual language.

"Uh, what's that say?" Cyborg asks.

"Crow, this is nonsense!" Robin says angrily.

"No, I can speak this language. It's a language of the ancients. I had a lot of time to study it in hell. With the person depicted in this page."

"Who is it?" Raven asks, and suddenly realizes.

"The man is named Darke. He was my cellmate in hell. I'll tell you the story…"

* * *

_It all began the day I had killed myself over Raven._

_I was sent directly to hell for my plan, which God had found out about. Heavily armed guards dragged me into the depths of hell. I attempted to free myself from their clutches, however all of my powers had been zapped by the aura of the underworld._

_I finally came to my containment, a dark, damp jail cell, in which I was to await rigorous torture and many other unpleasant things. I was thrown in on my ass, and crawled to the corner. On the other side of the room, I saw the silhouette of a man._

_"Hey," he said to me in a hazy and dark, yet civilized voice, "Welcome to hell."_

_He stood up, and revealed a long, slender body. He was pale, and had jet black hair, parted which came to his shoulders. He wore all black, but the clothing had holes and he was bloody and cut all over. He had many scars from his life (you cannot scar in the underworld) and an inverted cross shape on his right cheek going up his eye. He gave me his hand, and he pulled me up._

"_My name's Crow." I said to him. He looked at me in disgust._

"_I hadn't asked." He said, sitting down on his bed. "Well, so long as we're introducing ourselves, my name is Darke."_

"_Nice to meet you." I said, rolling over onto my side. "Why are you here?"_

"_Ah, a fine question. I am here because the opinions of god are not that of my own. I believe the only forgiveness is given in death. You may only receive sanctification for sins when you are killed for them. I had attained ultimate power, and devoted it to saving humanity…until a priest locked me away, and sent my soul to god while my body was left to rot on a cross of light… God didn't agree with my methods, and I attempted to kill him."_

"_You tried to kill God?" I asked._

"_Yes. And I had almost done so. I had him pinned down, and was about to finish him off when he called his army of angelic warriors on me. Normally, an angel is nothing to me; however, I was weak from taking him on. I was captured, and sent here. My powers were disabled. Yours must be too, had you had any." He said it so seriously that it scared me. He scared me. "Why are you here?"_

"_I killed myself for getting the woman I love to run away by reading her diary as a child. I saved my town twice afterward, but the anguish was too much to handle. I killed myself, and scarred her name into my chest." I said, telling him of my history._

"_Ah, women," he said, standing up, "I remember one. Her name was Maria. I met her over a million years ago. I was the original evil in earth. I alone kept the balance. I met her one day, and well, I loved her. She was my weakness. I left her after one night, but apparently she bore my children. They became demons. So, I'm pretty much an Adam, and she was an Eve. I heard that she was murdered for having such demonic demons, and she rose above, yet I sank below."_

"_Wow," I said in awe, "What then?"_

"_I slaughtered them. All of them. Damn humans." _

_A year past, and we told everything about each other between torture sessions. I told him of my plan, and he told me of his. _

_One day, he and I devised an escape plan. I was supposed to distract the guards, and let him escape, so he would let me out of hell, and together we would complete both our plans. He assured me he kept every promise he ever made, and that his powers would save us both._

_I didn't trust him._

_I started a distraction, but he was caught. He began to scream "Crow! Crow! Help me! I'll help you when I go!"_

_I looked at him, and I ran. I escaped to a pathway, and traveled through a labyrinth for two years._

* * *

"Then there begins the story of my resurrection," Crow finishes, and all the titans look at him.

"And that has to do with the shade, how?" Starfire asks, and they all agree.

"Well, that's what came to mind when you said Shade." Crow points to the book, "And I recall reading one word of this book saying the word, but it appears to be Darke. A simple translation error."

"That was fun." Raven says, and everyone looks at her. "Hey, I like Crow's stories!"

"Well, what could shade be?" Robin asks, and they all shrug.

"It's midnight…" Beast Boy says, pointing to the clock.

Crow yawns. "We should get to bed." He gets up, and turns the projector off.

"Right." Robin says, slamming his fist into his palm. Titans, let's sleep on it."

They all exit the living room, and shut the lights, heading for bed.

A silhouette appears to sit on the couch. He has the beast's eyes, and he sits on the couch, one leg crossing the other.

"Lets begin the game soon…"


	9. The Black Clouds Roll In

Chapter 9

The Black Clouds Roll In

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

GxJxR

* * *

Crow takes a gasp of air as he falls onto his back in the bed beside Raven.

"I love you…" She says, kissing him.

"I love you too," He says as he closes his eyes looking at her.

The two of them fall asleep in the room, and silence fills the air. The air slowly begins to cloud. It looks as if ink was dropped into water, as it begins to blacken out the windows.

This happens to every window in the tower.

* * *

The silhouette stands in the main room, these wisps of shadow extending from his hands. He looks like a normal human with pointy hair. He stands by the window in the main room and lightning strikes. The room is illuminated, however, he doesn't light up.

He is a silhouette.

* * *

Beast Boy wakes up, thirsty. He goes to open his door, but he just appears in the doorway facing his bed again.

"Wha?" He asks, looking around. He closes his eyes, and his skin covers with dark matter.

**_ What are you doing! Fool!_** A ghastly voice screams in his ears, and he calls off his new power.

"Okay…" he looks around, and sees his window is blackened. "CYBORG!"

* * *

"MYMORG!" Cyborg hears through the walls.

He wakes up, and looks around. "BB? You there?"

"MIME MMAPED!" he hears.

"Wait a second…" Cyborg says, charging his cannon.

"I CAN'T GET O-"Beast Boy begins, but his wall is blown apart.

"What is it BB?" Cyborg asks angrily.

"I couldn't get out of my room…"

"What the fuck is going on!" Raven screams, phasing through the wall.

Crow follows her in. "Yeah, dude, we were just sleeping…" he says, rubbing his eyes.

"What is the problem?" Starfire asks, entering Cyborg's room.

"BB here was having a bad dream… Hey where's Robin?" Cyborg states.

* * *

Robin sits in Starfire's room dressed in bondage clothes. He gives up, and pulls his clothes on, and goes to see what's going on.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"I COULDN'T LEAVE MY ROOM!" Beast Boy says, frustrated.

"That's it?" Robin asks, and he goes back to the door, about to leave when the alarm goes off.

"Wha?" Crow asks, forming his full clothes again.

They all head for the main room.

* * *

"Ah, Crow… It's been a while since we have actually seen each other… years? Days? It all feels the same."

"Who…" Crow says, walking into the room head of the others. Everyone stands back, looking at the man.

"Please! You know very well…" he says, looking at Crow.

His eyes are red abysses. They penetrate the darkness like knives to skin, and stand out. He looks sternly at Crow, and Crow looks in fear.

"You… THE BEAST! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" He says, blasting the man. The man disappears and re appears behind Crow.

"No… But you're still right…" He lowers his darkness, and reveals a scarred face.

Darke.

"YOU!" Crow says, knocking him back. "AZARATH METREON ZINTH-"

Darke snaps his fingers, and cuts Crow off. Crow gasps for air.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Crow asks, painfully. "AZARATH METREON ZINTH-!" he pauses, "Azarath Metreon Zinth-?"

"I disabled you from saying the 'I' sound. You can say anything with it that doesn't make the same sound as the name of the letter…

"You bastard!"

Darke walks forward, looking at the Titans.

"Starfire… Beast Boy… Cyborg… Robin… Crow… Raven…" Darke says, snickering.

"What do you want?" Beast Boy asks.

"Nothing really…" He says, "Oh; and please, call me **_Shade_**…" as he says this, everyone gets a chill down their spine.

"I want to play a game with you all…" Shade says, appearing behind them.

"What game?" Robin asks sternly.

"Survival of the fittest… it's simple… You start at the bottom, and make your way here, and you must survive until the end. If you survive until sunrise, and kill me with the light, then you win, and you'll all live."

"And if we lose?" Starfire asks.

"You die."

All of them stare at him wide eyed. He will kill them…

If he was strong enough to do what he did to Crow, imagine what he could do to them… They all think this…

"What do you say? If not, I could always just kill you normally…"

Crow stands up. "Alr-ght. -'ll take your challenge…" Crow says, looking at Shade.

"Wow, Crow…" he says, ignoring Crow. "You never told me how beautiful Raven was…" he reveals his mouth, and sticks a large tongue out licking her face.

"BASTARD!" Raven screams, kicking at him. He phases through it.

"Nuh-uh, pretty girl… I think I'll save you for last…"

"I will not take your challenge…" Starfire states stepping forward."I will not let you kill us…"

Cyborg and Robin step next to her. "We won't either."

"Pity…" Shade says. He draws a sword from his arm. The handle is covered with spikes, and it has a very long blade. He holds it by the blade, cutting his hand, and holds it reverse. It seems like this won't do anything, but they don't underestimate him.

"WAIT!" Starfire says, apparently getting a brilliant idea. "I think that if we all say the chant Crow uses, we might be able to use it against Shade! We have done this once before with Raven's attack!"

"NO! STARFRE! YOU'LL D--!" Crow screams, but she cannot understand his broken words.

The others do though. "STARFIRE! DON'-" Robin says, but he's too late.

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Starfire screams, and everyone, including Shade look at her wide-eyed.

"Heh… heh heh heh… HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Shade laughs, as gray energy begins to flow out of Starfire's mouth…


	10. Supernova

Chapter 10

Supernova

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

GxJxR

* * *

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Starfire screams, and everyone, including Shade look at her wide-eyed.

"Heh… heh heh heh… HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Shade laughs, as gray energy begins to flow out of Starfire's mouth…

"WHA IC HAPPENIC!" Starfire screams in pain.

"Fool… Only Crow can handle the amount of power the attack wields… Anyone can use this one, unlike Raven's, but crow is the only one who WON'T DIE!"

"STARFIRE!" Robin screams, grabbing her, just as the energy grows.

"I'll spare you all the death from one idiot…" Shade says, forming an orb around Starfire.

"No…" Raven says to herself, watching, once again, a failed attempt at this move.

"WATCH!" Shade screams, "WATCH AS THE ENERGY BECOMES TOO MUCH FRO THE BODY!"

As he says this, every orifice of Starfire's begins to explode with the energy. Her eyes explode as beams shoot out of them.

"STOP IT!" Crow screams. "- can Stop it! JUST LET ME SAY -!" Crow is in tears.

"No…" Shade kicks him, and they all watch in horror as Starfire's skin begins to burst, beams exploding.

"RO-BI!" She screams in pain, as she is torn, and incinerated in a blast of energy and gore.

"No…" Robin says, dropping to his knees, as shade disposes of her remains outside. Robin bursts into tears.

"That will teach you all a valuable lesson."

Cyborg grabs Shade by the neck. "Why did you do that! Crow could have saved her!" He is in tears too… they all are except for Raven, who stands there with her hood over her eyes.

"Because you know nothing of loss!" he kicks Cyborg off, and knocks him into a wall. "True sadness is being in hell for millions of years!" he turns to Crow.

"You were only in for a month before you cheated me out of freedom!" Shade screams.

"You disserved it… Look at you… Letting people d--, then saying -'m inhumane…" Crow says. "AZARATH METREON ZINTHOS!" He screams, and black energy blasts Shade.

"I forgot about those attacks… Well they are nothing…" He laughs.

"We'll do it… You said we'll be able to bring her back if we win, right?" Robin asks, wiping his tears away.

"Yes."

"We have nothing to lose… One of us has to survive…" Cyborg says.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy says, and Raven nods.

"We'll go." They all say.

"Goooood…" Shade says, lowering them to the bottom floor.

"You all have three hours until sunrise. Survive for that long, and you'll win…" He says, sinking into the darkness…"

"I got it!" Cyborg flicks a light switch. "If there's light, then he can't merge with shadow!"

"Cyborg, that's genius!" Robin says. "Easy…"

"Oh…" Says Shade's voice on the loudspeaker, "The exits are locked, and blocked, and that's the only floor hall with electricity… Good luck!" The loudspeaker shuts off.

"Crap…" Cyborg says.

"Wait… Cyborg!" Beast Boy says, "Isn't here an unlimited generator in the containment room? I mean, the one we put Raven in when Trigon was attacking?"

"Yeah, but that's on the third floor!" Cyborg says, depressingly.

"Yeah, but he can't phase into that room! If there's light, he'll be prevented from entering, so long as we lock the door! No metal can penetrate those walls!"

"That's awesome Beast Boy! If we get there, we will he home free… Then it's just wait a few hours, then survive one floor!" Robin says.

"It's a plan…" Crow says, and he puts his hand into a circle.

"Lets do it…" Cyborg says putting his hand in, with Beast Boy.

"YEAH!" Robin says.

Raven puts her hand in, and hazily says "Titans…"

They all scream "GO!" (except for Raven…)


	11. First Floor

Chapter 11

First Floor

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

GxJxR

* * *

"The coast is clear…" Beast Boy says, returning to his human form from the form of a beetle.

"Well, I don't get this…" Cyborg begins, "Why's he pissed at us? What did we do?"

"Well," Crow says, walking beside him, "He is deranged, evil, and a dark murderer of people from before recorded history…"

"Oh yeah…" Cyborg says, sinking to the side. He turns his light on, and they continue through the darkness. "If I keep this on, he can't merge with any shadow in front of us…"

"Starfire could shine all of the darkness away…" Robin says, sadly.

"Would you shut up? You've been saying stuff like that for ten minutes!" Raven snaps at Robin.

"Babe, leave him alone." Crow turns to her, "He suffered a great loss not too long ago…"

"Were you like this when you lost Raven?" Beast Boy says to Crow.

Crow glares at him, and says nothing. Beast Boy sighs. "I really wish Terra was here…"

"Would ya'll shut the fuck up about your losses?" Cyborg says, turning, "You're drivin' me nuts!"

They continue on, and see that the staircase to the next floor is blockaded. Shade appears, and steps forward. "I blocked off the stairs. You need to find some other alternative to getting up there… I left you a few ways, but you may not survive long enough." Shade Smiles, and attacks them.

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHOS!" Crow screams with Raven, and the blast him back.

"Heh heh heh…" Shade says, stepping forward. "No more damage than getting sprayed by a strong hose…"

"How about this then…" Cyborg asks, blasting him with a sonic cannon.

This knocks Shade back ten feet into the wall, where he sinks into the ground. He, in the form of a shadow, guides himself behind the bionic hero, and claws his circuitry.

"YO!" Cyborg screams, as Robin knocks him off.

"YOU BASTARD!" Robin screams at Shade as he dodges, and lets Robin's attack hit Cyborg.

"Watch where you're aiming!" Cyborg says to Robin, standing up dizzily.

"Ha ha ha!" Shade laughs, as he is knocked down by Crow and Raven, and then attacked by Beast Boy.

"Go on ahead!" Beast Boy screams to the others, "Find an exit!" he turns to Shade, and activates his Dark Matter.

"Woah… BB…" Crow says, looking at him.

"GO NOW!" he says in a hazy voice as he turns his arm into a sword. "I'll hold him off!" Beast Boy stares into the monster that controlled him with fury.

"No…" Raven says, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We won't let you."

Shade laughs. Hysterically. "You think you can kill me with my own power!" he starts crying in laughter, "That won't do ANYTHING!"

"BB… " Cyborg says, next to his best friend. "Lets go guys…"

"What!" Raven asks.

"He wants to fight alone." Cybrog says, turning away, and waking. "Crow… This is your battle too. You help him."

"-…" Crow tries to say, and they understand.

"You promised him…" Cyborg says. He has never looked so serious before.

"Okay…" Crow says, turning to robin, and Robin tosses him two birdarangs combined to make the sword.

"Kill him…" Robin says, and they leave Crow and Beast Boy, to go look for an exit.

"Ha ha ha…" Shade chuckles. "Bring it on…" he says, drawing his large sword which he holds by the blade.

"YAH!" Beast Boy screams, lunging at him. Shade swipes him with his sword's blunt side, cutting his arm off in a razor thin cut.

"BB!" Crow screams, and helps his friend up.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and Beast Boy's arm regenerates. "N-ce answer."

"Stop fooling around and FIGHT!" Beast Boy screams at Crow.

Crow takes Robin's sword in hand. "Ach tee no jeas" he chants and the sword glows white.

"What's that!" Beast Boy asks.

"Magic Enhancement spell."

"Can you use one on me after we win?" Beast Boy ask him, and he stares at him angrily.

"DIE!" Shade screams, swiping them with his sword. Beast Boy attacks him, and they begin to clash.

Shade slams Beast Boy in the Stomach, and Beast Boy kicks him in the rib cage. Shade and him slash each other with claws, and bite each other like animals. The tear through each other, but all the while, neither takes damage. Crow jumps onto Shade, and stabs him with the Light Sword. Shade burns, and smoke rises from his wound, as they continue their battle.

Beast Boy attacks Shade, and knocks shade down, and Shade stays on the ground, looking up at them.

"Had enough?" Beast Boy asks him, and he holds Crow's Sword of Light at Shade's throat (it doesn't damage him, because his Dark Matter is rised just above his wrist).

"Yes…" Shade says, smiling, "I've had enough fun, and am ready to begin acting serious…"

"What!" Beast Boy asks, as Shade Appears behind him. Shade smiles, as he begins to power up. He grows two demon horns on his head, and his fingers sharpen a little. His eyes become more sinister, and a small eye-like thing appears on his chest (looks like the "Eye of Sauren"), which glows a sickly orange, which shows wisps of shadow holding it in place. His feet curl at the front, and last, but most important, he grows six tentacles from his back. Four end with sharpened versions of a Sqid's Tentacle, while the other two are only really sharp. They go down his sides in largest to smallest order.

"How do you like it?" Shade asks, insanely, drawing a metal rod out of the back of his wrist, which sharpens, and connects at two points, forming a blade going down his arm.

Without hesitation, he lunges forward, and begins attacking Beast Boy with a barrage of slashes.

Crow jumps at him, but goes straight through. He's powerless…

"No…" He says, as Beast Boy is knocked down.

"Well, I must tell you of this other technique I have…" Sahde says, " It's called the 'Dark Universe.' I can open portals into my own dimension, which leads inside of myself. Only I can survive in it, and when you enter, you have three minutes until you are merged with me, and I gain any power you have that I don't… Isn't that just _rad?_" He smiles, and a portal appears below Beast Boy, and he falls in.

Crow runs, and fades through any wall until he can get to the others.

He runs and doesn't look back as his friend whom he promised he would help defeat this monster is killed by it, and devoured into it's being.


	12. Second Floor

Chapter 12

Second Floor

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them. 

Note: I'm bringing back the whole "Last line of the previous chapter is the first line of this one" thing.

GxJxR

* * *

Shade smiles, and a portal to the dark universe appears below Beast Boy, and he falls in. 

Crow runs, and fades through any wall until he can get to the others.

He runs and doesn't look back as his friend whom he promised he would help defeat this monster is killed by it, and devoured into it's being.

'Beast Boy… I'm sorry!' Crow thinks, tears rushing down his face. (He can think "I", he just can't say it.)

* * *

"Yo, where is that damn hole!" Cyborg asks, looking at the communicator in his arm. 

"Shade said it was somewhere…" Robin says, into his, in another room.

"I can't find it either…" Raven says,in the darkness of one room. She looks across the hall as she exits it, and sees her room down the hall a little.

'I wonder…' she thinks, as she walks over to it, and twists the knob.

* * *

Crow runs as his tears dry. He can't find them! Shade keeps drawing closer, just knocking each wall in his way down. 

"C-BORG!" He says, seeing his bionic buddy in one room. He lunges through the wall, "AZARATH METREON ZINTHOS!" he says, and they fade through the wall.

"Yo!" Cyborg says, as he sees Raven on his arm.

* * *

"I FOUND THE DOOR!" Raven screams, as she stands in her room, the most unlikely place to look. 

"NICE!" Robin says, as he runs out of his room, and sees Crow on top of Cyborg. "Should I even ask?" he asks them.

"No." Crow says, looking frantically around for Shade.

"Lets go!" Robin says, and they run into Raven's room. Raven stands on her bed, and points to a hole in the ceiling.

"N-CE!" Crow says, and his expression changes. "LOOK OUT!" he screams to her, and she turns.

She sees Shade, in his new form, standing over her, all tentacles ready to kill, and spikes protruding from every inch of his body. "GIVE ME A HUG!" He says, lunging at her, and she barely dodges him, jumping into the hole above.

"GO!" Robin screams, and Crow and Cyborg run forward, and dodge Shade. Shade sees Robin, and Robin holds the Sword of Light that Crow had. "Back demon boy…" He says, lunging at Shade slashing him.

"BASTARD!" Shade screams, grabbing him by the neck. He kicks Shade, but his leg only sinks into him. Shade smiles, and Robins foot bursts from his face, to hit Robin in the face.

"GAH!" Robin screams, and Crow appears behind him.

"You're nothing…" He says, impaling him in the shoulder.

"I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME!" Robin screams, slashing Shade, and jumping into the hole.

The others pull him up, and they run to the door. They exit the room, and look at the hall in front of them.

Floor 2 of 4 (Excludes Ground Level).

"Only this floor, and then we can get to the Safety Room…" Cyborg says, pointing to the map on his arm.

"It's weird…" Crow begins, "Wh- doesn't he just kill us when we just are a room away from him?"

"It's not fun that way…" Robin says, pushing past them, and Cyborg turns on his light.

"Hey, where's BB?" Cyborg asks, and crow drops back a few steps. "What?"

Crow suddenly bursts into tears, and falls to his knees.

"CROW!" Robin asks, grabbing him by the collar, and pulling him up, "What happened!"

"He…HE…" Crow says, gasping for air, and Robin slaps him. "Shade… He… Killed him…"

"WHAT!" Robin screams, and punches him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP HIM?" He says, joining Crow in tears.

"I tr--d, but…" He starts to get a hold of himself, and he looks at Cyborg who is in shock, "We were overpowered… - ran…"

"YOU WHAT!" Cyborg screams, and he punches Crow.

"STOP IT!" Raven screams, breaking them all up. "This isn't going to solve anything!"

They all get a grip on themselves, and continue, looking for the entrance to the next floor. They split up, and search in every room.

* * *

Raven enters the room, and looks around. It's empty. There is nothing but the shadow in it, and she feels uncomfortable. She walks inside, and searches behind any other things in the room. She pulls a tarp off of a table, and it reveals Darke's head on a platter. 

"Oh, I think I lost my head looking for you all!" He says, phasing through the table, and standing on it. He is in his human form, and not a single trace of Dark Matter is on him. He looks handsome this way. If not for his hair, and his main voice (it sounds like he has two in shade's form, one hazy over this one) she wouldn't be able to tell it was him.

"Why are you doing this to all of us? Isn't it Crow who betrayed you?" She says, and he stands there, looking at her. He's wearing a dark high collared cape, and black boots. He's much more muscular than he looks as Shade.

"Well, you should know…" He says, smiling, "You do it yourself…"

He appears behind her, and she turns. "You inflict FEAR upon your opponent… You find what they care most about, and simply…"

He does this again, but this time, he is right up to her, his head over her shoulder. "You take it away…" She turns to him, and punches him, but misses. He grabs her by the hair, and kicks her down, holding her up by the clod of hair in his hand.

"You have such nice hair…" he says, smiling.

"GET OFF!" She screams, and she kicks him in the crotch, but he seems unaffected.

"Ha ha ha…" he says, "Demons don't have the same form of genetalia…" he says, kicking her down, and stomping on her back.

He feels like he's a ton on her, and he crouches down. He smiles, and picks her up by the back of her neck.

"Why…?" she asks, and he smiles.

"Heh… I lost my love _millions_ of years ago, dear. I think Crow should know how it feels to lose her, and not get lost himself…" He draws his blade, and prepares to kill her…

"STOP IT!" She screams, and Darke looks at her. For an instant, she flashes. The flash is a different person. She appears as a blonde woman, with less tan skin. She has yellow-green eyes, and wears a black dress.

"N-no!" Darke screams, falling over, his sword disappears, and he looks at her with fear, "G-GET AWAY!" He screams.

* * *

_A young Darke lies down in the same position as he is in, and the blonde girl stands in the same position as Raven is. They are in a colorful field, full of blues, yellows, and oranges._

_"STOP IT!" Her beautiful voice screams, breaking the silence. It sounds echo-y and faded, but it still pierces through the silence like it once did before. "STOP HURTING PEOPLE!" she says in tears._

_"N-no! G-GET AWAY!" He says, but she walks forward, and touches his face. Her hands are warm on his ice-cold flesh. He stares at her in fear, and she bends down, and puts her hand out to help him up._

_He gives her his hand…_

* * *

"I SAID STOP IT!" Raven says, as Darke realizes he is daydreaming. 

"I… " He says, standing up, embarrassed. He blushes, looking afraid. Dark Matter jumps onto his body from across the room, and he sinks down.

"What the…?" She asks, and she leaves the room.

Her communicator beeps, and she answers it.

"TITANS!" Robin says into the communicator. "Report to the intersection!"


	13. And it Keeps Closing In…

Chapter 13

And it Keeps Closing In…

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

GxJxR

* * *

"What the…?" Raven asks, and she leaves the room.

Her communicator beeps, and she answers it.

"TITANS!" Robin says into the communicator. "Report to the intersection!"

Raven nods, and closes the communicator. She runs off, and phases through a wall.

Shade stands around the corner that was behind her. He looks at her, and sits down against the wall, his tentacles limp, and his chest glowing. He looks at his hands.

"What she said that day…" He closes his eyes to remember her… 'So beautiful…' he says, looking up.

"My Tamuril…" he says, clenching his chest, "I promised… But you died…" he says to himself.

* * *

"_WITCH!" one man screams, pointing to a cottage that sits up top of the hill._

_"DEMON BARER!" One woman screams, and holds a pitchfork._

_"Darke…" She says, holding a child. The child has wings, horns, and clammy gray skin. "Why are our children hated so…" She asks, looking back. All her children look like this, and she has twenty of them._

_"BURN THE DEMONS!" A man screams, and the mob he's in rushes toward the house._

_"Satanist!" one person screams, throwing a rock through the window. It hits the beautiful woman inside, and she falls. She crawls over her children, crying._

_"I won't let them kill you…" She screams, covering her children with her body. She loses consciousness._

_"BURN THEM!" One of the men screams, and the mob toss all of their torches on the home._

_The same young Darke returns, holding a bundle of fish in a net. He sees is home aflame, and runs up the hill._

_'DAMN IT ALL!" he screams, trying to push through the mob. "TAMURIL!" He screams, as he gets shoved. _

_He gets knocked down, as one of the men yells "THAT'S HIM! THAT'S THE DEMON KING!" He points toward Darke, and Darke's eyes turn red._

_From a distance, one can hear the gore, and Shade walks out of it, calling his power off, and covered in blood. He runs to his home, and jumps into the fire. He finds his beautiful wife, burned beyond recognition. He screams, as he pulls her corpse up, and reveals his children, still thriving, and unaffected. He picks her body up, and walks away, abandoning the demon breed in the fire. They sit there, crying, and crawl out of the fire unharmed._

_Shade carries his wife to a remote island, in a part of the world he has never seen before. He buries her there, and tosses his finger in, as to be able to track the body any time he wants to. He turns, and declares that, despite his Twenty-year absence, he will return to his old method._

_Obliterating humanity for the torment humans have given him._

* * *

Shade, his goal fresh in mind, stands up and turns. "Where are they?" he says aloud, looking thorough the tower.

* * *

"What do you mean you didn't find it either!" Robin asks Raven.

"I only found Shade, and he ran off ashamed, or something."

"Great!" Cyborg says, pacing, "We have no exit!"

"Maybe…" Crow says, pointing to a part of the hall they hadn't looked in.

"Lets check…" Robin says, and they walk into the unknown.

They walk for a few minutes, and they encounter a hole in the ceiling.

"THERE!" Raven points, and they all look up, smiling.

"Aww, man! The Safe Room's in there!" Cyborg says, rubbing his hands together.

"No room is safe…" Shade says, sinking from above them.

"Shade…" Crow says, clenching a fist. "You'll PAY!" He screams, lunging, and he gets knocked out in a single punch.

"Not more talk." Shade says, seriously for once. He lunges at Cyborg, and misses, as Cyborg his him with a Sonic Cannon. They all barrage him with attacks, hand he falls to his knees. He pushes off with his tentacles and kicks Cyborg out. He grabs Robin, and slams him into the wall. He gets ready to bite his head off, when he gets grabbed by Crow.

"NO WAY!" Crow screams, tossing him to the other side of the hall. Shade draws his sword, and Slashes Crow's arm off.

"GAH!" He screams. Raven tends his wounds, and replaces his arm like Crow did in his fight with Beast Boy. Crow clenches his fist. "HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG?"

"Hmm…" Shade grunts, and Crow lunges at him. Crow punches him in the chest, knocking the eye out of his body. Shade's eyes widen, as the eye falls, and is about to shatter when he screams "REALITY BREAKER!"

The eye continues to fall, but this time is starts from the top of the room, and lands in his hand. However, Crow sees Shade's other hand is covered with blood.

"CROW!" Raven cries. He notices he's in a fetal position, clenching his gut, bleeding tremendously. Shade actually altered reality, making him the one who got hit!

"What…" Crow asks, standing up, "Was that?"

"A very special move…" Shade says, looking at him, "I have the ability to change the outcome of a minor event, but I can't use it frequently. An example was I would be bale to use my powers to change something about Hitler, but I would be unable to stop the Holocaust and World War Two."

"Interesting…" He says, healing himself slightly with a muttered Azarath Metreon Zenthos. The technique is not nearly as good as The Zinthi, but it stopped the bleeding and pain.

"Yes… However, I cannot change my past… Well, I cannot use it to alter the course of my life. I must get these powers, and I must go through all the pain I did. I may be able to prolong it, but it still will happen." He says this on Crow's level. It seems for a moment that they are still friends, but this ends, when Crow Draws the Sword of Light that he made. This baffles Raven and Robin, because they don't recall the technique.

Crow attacks him, and he avoids it. He Swipes his blade at him, and they get into a power struggle. The Sword of light snaps, and a part of it flies into Shade's stomach. He screams, and pulls it out, disappearing above.

Crow pants, and he helps Raven and Robin wake Cyborg up. They lug him up the hole, and arrive at the third floor—The one housing the Safe Room…


	14. Third Floor

Chapter 14

Third Floor

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them. 

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Crow pants, and he helps Raven and Robin wake Cyborg up. They lug him up the hole, and arrive at the third floor—The one housing the Safe Room… 

"He's following us!" Raven screams, and Shade bursts up after them.

"I'm done playing!" Shade yells, slashing at them with a blade extending from his wrist. "DIE NOW!" Crow punches him in the chest and grabs the eye pulling it out.

Crow examines it, and notices it burns his hand. It feels like molten hot glass He hears it squeal, and look around frantically. Shade seems to calm down, and pulls it away from him.

"Never it…" he says, angrily, sinking down as he places it back in his chest.

"That got it." Raven sighs. She looks around. "The safe room's here… somewhere…"

"I know where." Cyborg looks at his arm, and it forms a map. He starts to walk around a corner, and the others follow.

"It's still an hour and a half until daylight…" Robin says, looking at his watch.

"Plenty of time," Crow says, seriously," for him to get us.

"We should stay in for about a quarter past an hour. It should take us about fifteen minutes to get up to the next floor anyway." Cyborg says, not looking up from his arm.

"How do you know it'll hold?" Crow asks.

"The thing's so strong, my father can't even break it." Raven answers, and he nods.

"How do we know Shade's as weak as him?" Crow says, stopping, and they all turn to him.

"Trigon was the strongest thing we've faced as a team…" Robin says, angrily, "There's got to be nothing that is stronger."

"Yeah? Well - didn't tell you two things I've noticed during m- f-ghts!" Crow says, in his face, "How he killed Beast Boy: He fucking absorbed him! He opened up a portal into his core, and he dropped BB in, and said that he's merge with his being if he was in more than three minutes, and then he'd gain BB's powers. It's been a fucking hour and a half! He's probably got the ability to shape shift into animals now! The way he knocked me down: HE FUCKING ALTERED REALITY TO REVERSE MY ATTACK! He made it so that damn eye thing was falling from a h-gher spot, and that he punched me instead of me punching him! THIS IS NO NORMAL VILLAIN! HE IS ALMOST A FUCKING GOD!" They all look at Crow in horror. Crow notices that he's in tears, and on his knees.

"Whoa…" Cyborg says, looking at him wide-eyed.

"I dreamt…" Robin says, "That I was falling… that three men were around me, and they dropped me… beaten, bloody… One had his eyes…"

"What does that have to do with anything!" Crow screams, and he grabs Robin by the collar "He's after me! Save yourselves!"

"NO!" Robin screams, kicking him over. "Raven, carry him along. He's getting hysterical."

"Crow…" Raven says, caringly as she slings him over her shoulder.

The four of them continue, the whole time Crow crying.

"Yo, turn here…" Cyborg says, and they turn and see Darke standing in the middle of the hall. His head slings down, and he looks deep in thought.

"You…" Robin says, stepping forward. He turns to face Robin, and his eyes look red, as if he was rubbing them after crying. The pigment in his eyes are strangely green, rather than the usual red, or as he is as Shade, nonexistent but the rest of the eye glowing blood red. "What the-"

He phases through Robin, and goes up to Raven. "You… you… You're… her…" he says, gripping her around the neck he picks her up. "You should be DEAD!" he grips her, and she flashes the girl from his memory. "STAY WHERE YOU BELONG!" He says, screaming at her, and the eye in his chest glows blue.

"DAMN YOU! YOU MONSTER!" She manages to scream, and his eyes widen. He gets his grip on reality again, realizing that the person he is imagining would never call him such a thing. He smiles, and his eyes return to the normal red pigment. He smiles, and the pigment disappears, and his eyes glow red, then he becomes Shade.

"I'm sorry, Raven, but you remind me too much of my human days…" he squeezes her neck harder, and harder, until she thinks it will burst, before Crow cuts his arm off with a blade formed from an Azarath Metreon Zenthos. "Ah, how clumsy of me, I forgot about you…" he says, the severed arm disappearing, and returning as a shadow to his body.

"YO!" Cyborg screams to the others "The safe room!" he presses a button and the room opens, and the others run to him.

"The what!" Shade asks in anger, and he attacks Crow as he runs toward it.

"CROW!" Raven screams, "AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" She screams, and Shade smiles.

"TWO IN ONE DAY!" He asks gloriously, "THAT'S AWE-" he says, about to say how it is awesome, when he is hit by a large blast of Gray energy, and half of his body is obliterated.

"Oh, didn't I say I could do that?" Raven asks, hugging Crow.

"YOU BITCH!" he screams, lunging at her, as she runs toward the door.

"AH!" Raven screams, squinting her eyes as Crow enters, "BRIGHT!"

"You can't enter here, Shade!" Crow screams, "No shadow, and no metal or magic can break through!"

"Ow…" Raven screams, trying to open her eyes, but closing them instantly.

"Hmm…" Shade says thinking, and he runs toward them, and disappears.

"CLOSE IT!" Robin screams, and Crow shuts the door, with Robin, himself, Cyborg and Raven all securely inside.

"I can't open my eyes…" Raven says, "Too bright…"


	15. The Safe Room

Chapter 15

The Safe Room

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them. 

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"You can't enter here, Shade!" Crow screams from the safe room, "No shadow, and no metal or magic can break through!" 

"Ow…" Raven screams, trying to open her eyes, but closing them instantly.

"Hmm…" Shade says thinking, and he runs toward them, and disappears.

"CLOSE IT!" Robin screams, and Crow shuts the door, with Robin, himself, Cyborg and Raven all securely inside.

"I can't open my eyes…" Raven says, "Too bright…"

"Phew!" Crow says, falling so he sits against the wall.

"Titans, take off your capes and or cloaks! He might be able to enter through their shadow…" Robin says, and they all lay their cloaks and capes out flat on the floor.

"So…" Cyborg says, bored, "Anyone want Ramen?" he asks, opening his chest cavity revealing four cups of Cup Noodles.

"Sweet!" Crow says, and Cyborg hands him a cup of hot water.

"No thanks…" Raven says, sitting in the corner. Her eyes are still closed, and she can't open them.

"Are you okay?" Crow asks her, and she turns her head to him.

"I just can't see… it's too bright…" She says, trying to open her eyes.

"Okay," Cyborg says, sipping down some Ramen with Crow.

"So, Crow, is there anything about this guy you know?" Robin asks him between forks of Ramen.

"Well…" Crow says, sipping down some broth, "He did tell me one more thing…" Crow tittles his fingers, and an orb appears in the middle of the room. "I'll transmit my memories into this since – Can't say the letter after 'H'" he says, and the orb begins to show a little flashback in Crow's mind. It has subtitled text, and it reads it aloud in a British voice…

* * *

_Upon Crow's arrival to limbo, Crow and Darke told each other of their pasts a little._

_Darke, however, kept many things of his past a secret. He told how he gained his powers…_

The voice turns to Darke's and the orb shows half of Darke's face on half of the screen and behind it, it shows a younger Darke…

_"I was of the age of 18 when I gained my powers. I had drunken from a fountain of Black water in the center of the Earth, after calculating the exact amount that a single being would be able to drink. There was a riddle, which no one could get, but after taking everyone who had ever attempted it's notes, I discovered the amount, which is less than a shot glass. I wanted such a power because I was an outcast: the kid who no one liked, who no one regarded as human. I wanted to be able to make them pay, even if it meant making their statements of me being a monster true…_

_"If more than the amount I had drunken was consumed, everything would die, and cease to exist. I was careful because I didn't want a kamikaze, just revenge. I gained a power unimaginable… I couldn't help but be consumed by it…" _he says on the screen. The image behind him shows this entire speech being reenacted, however Shade isn't shown.

It only shows him crawl into the middle of the lake, and show a silhouette, with the blood red eyes.

The Darke goes on:

"_I continued, and drained the lake into a parallel dimension. I destroyed everything I had used to find the amount, and I left. I began by slaying everyone who had insulted me and made me feel the way I did, showing them they were right to call me a monster…" _The Image behind Darke's face shows him as a silhouette. Had they not known better, they would have thought that it was a just silhouette, rather than Shade.

" _I continued this before I found someone…I'm not going to tell you anymore of that… then when that time had passed, I continued my slaying until I was done away with by a great wizard. He used a spell, which no one had ever used before to bind me to an object. My powers were gone, and I couldn't turn back to my original form so long as I was on it. He carried it away, and locked me into the room where the fountain once stood. He locked the door, and cast a spell to separate me into two. My mind, was sent here, but my body is watching humanity…I see everything that they do… I can see even that girl you know, Crow… She's young, and right now she's in the shower…"_

All you see is a fist hit his face, and the orb disappears.

* * *

Raven, having heard all of this shivers, and feels violated. 

"Yeah… - forgot he said that…" Crow says, "… - really did punch him out though…"

"Thanks…" Raven says, opening one eye, but she still can't get the other open. She tries to open it, and Crow watches as he sees two red dots on her eye as she squints it open and instantly shuts it.

"Well, now we know how he got his powers…" Cyborg says, sighing, "Still no way to kill him. The best we could do is seal him away again, but we can all se that that failed eventually…"

"Uh… C-? Robin?" Crow says, looking terrified.

The two of them don't hear him. "RAVEN!" Crow screams, looking at her terrified.

"Crow!" She asks, concerned, "What's wrong?" She still can't open her eye.

"He's… HE'S…" Crow says, "YOUR ---!"

"What?" Raven asks, confused, "My, what?"

"YOUR ---! HE'S IN YOUR ---!" Crow screams, pointing to her.

"Oh shit…" Cyborg says, looking at her, and stepping ahead of Robin.

"What?" Robin and Raven ask.

"Raven… He's been hiding…" Cyborg begins slowly, "This whole time, Shade's been hiding…"

"OUT WITH IT!" Robin screams, now behind Raven.

"SHADE'S IN YOUR EYE!" Cyborg screams and Raven's eyes both shoot open in shock.

Shade's upper torso lunges from her eye, increasing size as it goes further out, and he lunges at Cyborg.

"NO!" Crow, Robin and Raven scream at once, as Shade stands in the middle of the room. He's smoking, and then it stops.

"Heh heh heh…" Shade chuckles. Cyborg's eyes are wide with shock, and he looks down to see Shade's arm impaling his chest, holding his most human part of his body, which is connected only by rubber tubes.

His heart.

"CYBORG!" Robin screams, as Cyborg's arm points toward Shade as a sonic cannon.

"Crow…" Cyborg says, gasping for air. "Guys…" he says, coughing up blood. "I'll take him to hell with me! RUN NOW!" Cyborg screams with all his being, and he charges all of his battery into his cannon. The room links to his body, and blackens due to his absorbing all of the tower's energy. His cannon is what lights the room, and it shines like the room did, and Shade begins to sizzle.

Crow pulls the others out of the room, and they close the door on them.

"GO TO HELL YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Cyborg screams, about to blast.

Shade only smiles...

Cyborg's heart bursts as he clenches his hand.

* * *

"CYBORG!" Raven screams, looking back. 

"WE HAVE 27 MINUTES TO GET TO THE MAIN ROOM!" Robin says, holding back tears as he sees the exit to the next floor of the tower.

"Don't look back…" Crow says, to them all, closing his eyes and tears flowing down his cheeks.

They all go to the exit, and jump up, just as they hear the Sonic blast break through the safe room, and eliminate half of the hallway.

"Don't look back… Don't look back…" Raven repeats to herself as Crow carries her up to the next floor. She looks and sees Shade Carrying Cyborg's charred severed head, and screams.


	16. Backtrack

Chapter 16

Backtrack

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"WE HAVE 27 MINUTES TO GET TO THE MAIN ROOM!" Robin says, holding back tears as he sees the exit to the next floor of the tower.

"Don't look back…" Crow says, to them all, closing his eyes and tears flowing down his cheeks.

They all go to the exit, and jump up, just as they hear the Sonic blast break through the safe room, and eliminate half of the hallway.

"Don't look back… Don't look back…" Raven repeats to herself as Crow carries her up to the next floor. She looks and sees Shade Carrying Cyborg's charred severed head, and screams.

"Damnit!" Robin screams, falling to his knees, he pounds on the ground in fury, "CYBORG!" He screams in anger.

"He's gone…" Crow says, "It's only us…"

"Only you…" Robin says, turning. "You two, go on ahead. Go to the main room, and I'll hold him off. He will have to kill me to get to you, and I will not go without a fight!" Robin says, clenching his fist. "If you live, I'll be back."

"ROBIN!" Raven screams, as Robin jumps back down, and runs back to the destroyed hall.

"Let him go…" Crow says, and he and Raven turn, and run down the hall.

* * *

"SHADE!" Robin screams, running into the middle of the wreckage. The whole floor has almost collapsed.

"You rang?" Shade says, standing behind him. He kicks Cyborg's head at him, and his hand is still stained with the blood from his heart.

"We're ending this right now…" Robin says, making a sword out of two bird-a-rangs.

"If you say so…" Shade says, and he calls off his dark matter. He draws his sword as Darke, and he smiles. "If you want to kill me so bad, I won't use my immortality, or any moves but this sword. That way, I'll be fighting on you level."

"Whatever."

"All right, Robin, gentleman's good luck?"

"Fuck you…"

"Very well…" Darke says, charging at Robin, holding his sword by the blade. His hand drips blood, as he clashes blades with Robin, and seems to be doing as well as Robin is, despite his only using one hand, and Robin's using two.

It's here that Robin gets his first real glance at the Shade Blade. The sword's handle is made of spines and spikes. He has seen this when he was looking for Starfire when she ran away. Beast boy go stung by one, and became very ill on the return trip, and Cyborg had to make an antidote using remains of it that he found lodged in his foot.

He misses them. All of his friend, are either dead, or out of his reach. 'My communicator!' He thinks, he reaches for it, but it falls, and Darke smashes it.

"RAH!" Robin screams, slashing at Darke. 'He took them all away! He just stood there laughing when the love of my life was killed!' He starts to bring the Shade blade down. He takes another look at the sword. The Blade is longer than anything Robin had ever seen before. It is just grazing the ceiling above them, and it is as sharp as a razor blade. Just looking at it makes Robin feel like he was being cut.

Robin kicks Darke, and slashes his shoulder. Darke lets out a scream, and he lunges at Robin, and Robin blocks every shot.

Darke slashes at Robin, and is about to graze his neck as Robin keeps his sword up, while inching his hand closer to his belt, and closer…

He feels a sharp pain as the razor sharp blade slices through his cheek like a hot knife through butter. He feels his mouth fill with the scarlet salty liquid which pumps through his body, as he grabs his ice disc.

He throws one at Darke and he freezes in a barrage of ice. Robin pulls the sword out of his cheek, and kicks him over. Darke smashes out of the ice, and looks pissed. He stands up, and Robin stabs him through the chest. He gasps, and stands up, moving closer to Robin on the blade.

"I don't die!" He screams, and he kicks Robin over, and becomes Shade once again. He absorbs the sword.

"WHAT!" Robin screams in frustration, "You said…"

"I LIED!" He says, blasting Robin with a beam of darkness through the heart. He steps over Robin, and continues after Crow and Robin.

"I'm coming… Cyborg… Beast Boy… Star…" Robin cries, and he closes his eyes.

Robin stares at the open part of the tower as he silently dies.


	17. The Murder in the Storm: Part 1

Chapter 17

The Murder in the Storm

Part 1: Inner Demons Revealed

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"Damnit!" Robin screams, falling to his knees, he pounds on the ground in fury, "CYBORG!" He screams in anger.

"He's gone…" Crow says, "It's only us…"

"Only you…" Robin says, turning. "You two, go on ahead. Go to the main room, and I'll hold him off. He will have to kill me to get to you, and I will not go without a fight!" Robin says, clenching his fist. "If you live, I'll be back."

"ROBIN!" Raven screams, as Robin jumps back down, and runs back to the destroyed hall.

"Let him go…" Crow says, and he and Raven turn, and run down the hall.

They continue, and after sixteen minutes, the main room enters view.

"WE MADE IT!" Crow says, running toward the room. They can see the window, and run toward it, but Shade cuts them off, his sword covered in blood.

"Shade!" Raven scowls, looking at the man in front of them.

"Six little birdies, flying down the hall. One by one, they start to fall. First the naive one tries to escape. She's the first to meet her fate." Shade sings, while cleaning his blade, "Five little birdies, flying down the hall. One by one, they start to fall. Then the green one tries to attack. Then he falls into a sack…"

"You deranged bastard…" Crow says, looking at him disgusted.

"Four little birdies, flying down the hall. One by one, they start to fall. Next the toy one tries to destroy. Next you know, he's a broken boy. Three little birdies, flying down the hall. One by one, they start to fall. The bat's son tries to take me on. Finally that one's gone…" He smiles, holding up a bloody hand, "Two little birdies, flying down the hall. One by one, they start to fall…" Shade stops singing, and pauses, "How should this line go?

"YOU BASTARD!" Raven screams, and she attacks Shade. Shade merely dodges, and flings her into a wall. A single trickle of blood falls down her forehead.

"RAVEN!" Crow screams, running over to her, "Don't worry babe, - won't leave you…"

"Oh yeah…" Shade smiles, and snaps his fingers. Crow grips his throat, and screams. He falls and his eyes widen in pain.

'My throat…' Crow thinks to himself, paralyzed in pain, 'it hurts worse than before!'

"CROW!" Raven screams, and she crawls over to him.

"I-I-I… I? I!" Crow starts saying, surprised that he can say the syllable again.

"I re-enabled you to say 'I'," Shade smiles under his dark matter, and he chuckles to himself, "I need you to say if for our fight…"

"NO!" Crow yells, standing up, "We've already gotten to the room!" Crow looks furious.

"Yes, but I don't see a sunrise…" Shade looks him in the eyes. Shades eyes are burning red. "That was the deal: I die in the light, you survive until then."

"Why should I fight you? I can just hold you in my powers until sunrise, and then stay in the main room until then." Crow smiles, and starts to mouth the _magic words_ "Azarath Metreon Zinthi!"

Shade appears behind him. "You know as well as I do that you would like nothing more than to kill me… Or at least 'The Murder' would…"

"The Murder is gone!" Crow says, turning to face him.

"Yes… The Murder was only to bring me down, and after we were together, he destroyed it." Raven says, as-a-mater-of-factly.

"Exactly." Crow says, looking at Shade.

"No. No, no. No, no, no." Shade says, shaking his head. "The Murder is a part of you… Your dark side… And I would be able to sense that, now wouldn't I?"

"No… It's gone…" Crow says, looking into himself, as far as he can go without passing out.

"Think about it…" Shade whispers into his ear. He holds Crow's arms to his torso, and his head lies on his shoulder. "Raven… being torn apart…"

"Crow… I don't want you to become that again…" Raven says softly to him. She looks about ready to cry. "Don't become it…"

"Raven…" Crow says to her. His eyes fill with tears as he sees her upset like that.

"Being torn apart… and eaten…" Shade whispers in his ear again, going on. His voice penetrates the sanctity of the tower, and defiles everything calm, "… By me…"

Crow's eye pigment becomes yellow, and his eyes look like a reptile's. His incisor teeth become longer, and become fangs.

"Then… her remains… defiled and raped…" Shade says, calmly, trying to hide his pleasure in pissing Crow off so, "… Like a child… playing with his food… and it happens to be a dead bird…"

Crow's voice trembles, and his heartbeat can be heard from where Raven is standing. His voice sounds like his, only being masked over by a demon's. The demonic voice sounds an evil, deep, a ghastly voice that almost overpowers his. "R-Raven…" He says, in his two voices, "Run into the main room… and wait until the sun rises… NOW…"

"But I-"

"GO NOW!" He screams in the demonic voice, and she runs, tears flowing down her cheeks.

She remembers the voice. She has for all the time that had gone by since Crow's return on the week of her eighteenth birthday.

The Murder's voice.

She runs into the room, and falls on her knees at the window.

* * *

Crow trembles in Shade's hands, and Shade holds back laughter. "Yes… I'm killing her… Blood mixing with sexual fluids… a grotesque, horrid display… yet you cannot stop watching… I cannot stop doing it…" He lets go of Crow, and stands back.

Crow's body begins to grow and become more muscular, and his clothes change to a brown battle armor, and his face begins to rot and three flaps of skin, which stretch when he opens his mouth, connect his lips. His eyes become a glowing white, and his hair gets larger. His cloak becomes a cape. Finally, a large stone-carved scythe appears, and he holds it with both hands. He lets out a deep moan; his normal human voice is lost inside of him, yet he maintains complete control of his actions. The only visible difference between this and his first transformation into The Murder is that his right eye has a tiny demonic pupil still visible.

"SHADE!" The Murder screams in anger, it's voice amplified off the walls. He is holding the scythe in one hand. "You WILL regret this!"

"Heh…" Shade smiles, "I guess you are stronger than I thought in this form…" Shade laughs.

Shade's three right tentacles merge, and form a solid black wing. The left ones extend into blades, and his core-eye glows a darker orange. His shoulders protrude out into three spikes, and his fingers become razor sharp blades on each joint. His chest Cavity hardens to form a sort of armor, and spikes off into two points at each side of his torso, and two at his hips. His legs darken, and form what appear to be pants, which spike four times before revealing his foot, which is now darker. His horns sharpen, and his hazy shadow hair becomes darker. He looks like a whole new warrior.

"That's new…" The Murder wheezes.

Shade laughs in a more powerful sounding voice, "Call me Giga Shade."

"Fine…" The Murder says, raising its scythe.

And so begins the battle which will decide the fate of the Titans…

The Murder V.S. Giga Shade


	18. The Murder in the Storm: Part 2

Chapter 18

The Murder in the Storm

Part 2: Hell-Fighter's Fury

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"That's new…" The Murder wheezes.

Shade laughs in a more powerful sounding voice, "Call me Giga Shade."

"Fine…" The Murder says, raising its scythe.

Giga Shade readies himself in a battle position, and The Murder lunges toward him, slashing down on his arm with the scythe he wields.

"Ah, you ARE strong in this form, Crow," Giga Shade says, pushing against the blade. Giga Shade uses his free arm to summon the Shade blade, and slices the Murder's wrist.

"Familiar pain, right?" Giga Shade taunts.

"FUCK YOU!" The Murder growls, kicking Giga Shade in the chest. He slams the scythe through his adversary, and slams him into the wall.

"SHIT!" Shade screams, as he hits the wall. He grips the blade, and pulls it up, cutting through his head, which then regenerates.

"Tricky…" The Murder growls, and he holds the scythe in one hand. He punches Shade with one hand, and rams the blade through him, tearing Shade in half.

Shade bursts into shadow, and regenerates. He runs down the hall, his tentacles flailing and wing flapping with the force of his speed. The Murder appears in front of him "AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" It screams, and he gets knocked backward.

Shade smiles, and jumps up, breaking through the ceiling. The Murder jumps after him.

They blast through layers of metal, and plaster. Shade is ahead, and The Murder follows, slashing at everything it sees.

They arrive at the roof. The rain comes down as if they were standing under a waterfall, and gets everywhere.

BLAM! Thunder sounds as a lightning bolt strikes in the distance, lighting up the sky. Water pours down Shade and The Murder as they face each other down in the storm. The sound of rain and thunder is all that remains, as the two lunge at each other.

They slash at each other, kicking off of each other. SLASH! SLASH! CRUNCH!

BLAM! They fight, soaking wet in the storm, and keep getting further up, attacking past and through their opponent, and eventually rise above the clouds.

They fight, dripping water as they continually rise into the sky, and Shade finally slams The Murder down with the side of his sword, knocking him hurtling down toward the tower.

The Murder falls to his doom, when he finally says "Azarath Metreon Zinthi" and in a burst of gray energy, Crow reveals himself, falling merely two yards onto his feet. He looks up at where he burst through the cloud cover, still holding his Scythe in a battle-ready position when Shade bursts through he cloud cover doing a downward slash at him.

Right as the blow is struck, Crow morphs into The Murder, and gets knocked down three floors into the tower.

The Murder pulls itself up, water pouring down onto its face. It shows its teeth as Shade makes himself visible again. He Jumps down, and gets knocked hard to the side where he blacks out.

* * *

Shade stands in a warehouse, surrounded by books upon shelves, in a gigantic area. He walks forward a few steps, only to get knocked over by The Murder who dives through the shelf at him, punching him.

Shade fends him off, as Crow attacks from behind. Crow and The Murder attack from front and back, Shade fending them off well.

"You took me inside my mind…" Shade says after understanding what happened, "Cleaver…" He backs up a step, and then a bunch of book fly off the shelves and their pages circle around him.

"But you forget, this is my mind, and my world!" The pages form a large blade, which he strikes Crow with. The Murder blocks this, and then backs up, as Shade pushes toward him.

The shelves disappear, and they stand in the remnants of Azarath; a destroyed rubble of a world now consumed in lava, ash, and death. They stand near the river of where Crow was put to rest and re-birthed, and fight there.

Crow melds with The Murder again making it back at full strength. It slams Shade into the lava, but Shade's tentacle grabs him by the leg pulling him in as well.

A minute passes by, both beings in the lava when suddenly Shade bursts out, his skin charred and bright red with magma, followed by The Murder. Sahde flies in the air with his one wing, and The Murder jumps after him. They collide in the air and stab each other through the hearts, and both awaken in the tower again.

* * *

They are in the stabbing positions, and realize that much of it was true. They pull apart, and burst through the wall again punching, kicking, and slicing each other apart.

Giga Shade and The Murder stand facing each other. They both are panting. Shade's wing droops downward, and his tentacles lie around the ground. The Murder barely holds his weapon, dragging it across the floor hunched over.

Giga Shade becomes his second form, and The Murder separates to a murder of gray crow and all of them fly away revealing Crow alone.

The two of them, now with less pressure and weight to account for, ready into fighting stances. Crow holds his scythe, while Shade holds the Shade blade. The tow of them face off.

"You shall not pass…" Crow says, "I'LL MAKE SURE OF IT! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Crow screams, and a wave of gray energy rips the floor apart, heading directly toward Shade, who only stands there with his eyes closed.


	19. The Murder in the Storm: Part 3

Chapter 19

The Murder in the Storm

Part 3: Mangled Men with no Tomorrow

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

"You shall not pass…" Crow says, "I'LL MAKE SURE OF IT! AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Crow screams, and a wave of gray energy rips the floor apart, heading directly toward Shade, who only stands there with his eyes closed.

"No…" Shade's eyes open, suddenly, and he jumps over the blast before it makes contact. He spins in the air, and his tentacles shoot out for Crow.

Crow is grabbed, around his neck, arms, and legs. He is hurtled forward into a wall of rubble, and breaks through it.

Shade smirks, and suddenly screams out in pain. His tentacles withdraw, severed and spewing dark matter. Crow steps forward, smirking, as he holds the severed and squiggling arms.

The tentacles regenerate and the parts Crow hold disappear. Shade lunges forward, and punches at Crow in the face. Suddenly a sharp pain stabs into Shade, and Crow holds the scythe in Shade's gut.

Shade strikes, pulling the pushing out of him. He hurtles Crow him through a wall. Suddenly, The Murder jumps at hum, and grabs him. They burst through the roof once again, and stand in the pouring rain once more.

"Again?" Shade asks, as he turns back to Giga Shade. They lunge at one another once again. This time, however, The Murder pulls a garter from the building, and sets it up so that it is the highest point.

Shade lunges at him, and they begin to rip each other apart once more. Suddenly, lightning strikes the garter. The Murder stabs Shade, and then swings him into the beam of lighting just as it hits.

"AHHHHHH!" Shade screams in agony as the beam of electricity strikes him. The light illuminating from it makes his skin bubble as he gets normal pain from the electricity and heat, which is hotter than the sun.

Shade falls to the ground. He twitches slightly, and stands up, smoking.

He looks up to see Crow, rather than The Murder. "What are you going to do now?" He asks.

"What?" Crow is baffled. It looks as if he had won.

Shade faces upward, and lets out a blood-curdling scream. Suddenly, a blast of shadow bursts from his mouth and strikes the cloud, which then begins to open up and finally disappear.

"Your advantage is gone…" Shade laughs, clearing his throat as he finishes.

"You're a monster…" Crow says.

Shade merely tackles him through the floor, and lands in the hall where the battle began. The hall which leads to where Raven is. '_Shit…'_ Crow thinks to himself. '_Raven's right there… If he gets in there…'_

"No." Crow says aloud. He steps forward, his eyes gray with fury. His power now gathers around his body. Suddenly, he forms a skin of his energy, making it resemble Shade himself.

Shade lunges forward, and Crow throws himself at him, blasting both of them through the tower, and onto the island.

"We're out…" Crow says, surprised. Shade grabs him by the hair, and kicks him, tearing most of it. It no longer resembles a bird, but is merely a jumble of short hair.

He kicks at Shade, and Shade merely laughs. Suddenly, Crow grabs Shade, and flies upward. He hurdles Shade down at the ground.

"FOOL! This never works against-" Shade pauses, his dark matter now evaporating, as he looks down. He coughs up some blood. A Huge sharp rock--not even 3 feet away from the tower--has impaled him, and the eye from his chest balances on top of its point.

"Thank god that rock's there…" Crow says, reaching for the eye. He grabs it, and starts to walk ways. Suddenly, he trips slightly, and the eye falls under a rock. "For crying out loud…" He says reaching for it.

"A little lesson, friend…" Darke coughs, "So long as the eye stays in shadow…"

Shade rises from beneath the rock "It can call me back to it…" He kicks Crow in the chest, and knocks him forward, back into the building. Shade has a lot of fatigue, and it looks as if he's evaporating from the stab wound, as particles of Dark matter visible seep out. He walks slower than before, but still fast enough to catch up.

Crow draws the scythe. He slams it toward Shade, whose tentacle grabs the handle, and holds it back. The other five grab it, and toss it aside.

"Fucker!" Crow screams, kicking him in the chest. Shade draws the Shade Blade, and stabs Crow in the right side of his chest, breaking through his back.

Crow screams in agony, feeling the cool metal of the blunt edge against his beating heart. It burns, hurts, stings, and feels freezing all at once, as he pushes closer to shade. More, and more of the sword push through him. Finally he stands face to face with Shade.

"Azarath," Crow says, almost whispering it.

"No…" Shade blurts aloud, trying to push the blade up and kill him, but it's futile.

"Metreon," Crow whispers lower.

"NO…" Shade fearfully grunts, louder than before, now trying to let go, but his arm is grabbed.

"ZINTHI!" Crow screams, and his eyes burst with gray energy.

"NOOOOO!" Shade screams in agony, trying to escape, but failing.

A gray blast bursts forward from Crow's body, and hits Shade through the building. He screams in agony as he hits the opposite wall of the tower.

Shade stands up, now starting to fall apart, the same moment Crow does. All of his body is doing what the impaled part was, as particles chunk off endlessly. Shade and Crow stare at each other; now in the forms they met each other in just two hours and fifty-five minutes ago. They stand on the parallel sides of the tower. Every wall between them is merely rubble. Shade's red abyss eyes cut through the shadow of the tower like knives, as Crow stares back. His eyes are abysses of gray, and equal magnitude. They stare at each other in fear, pure hatred, and the feelings of betrayal.

"This is it…" Crow mutters.

"… The final stretch of this fight…" Shade continues.

"And only one will die here…" They both say at the same time, "And it won't be me."


	20. The Murder in the Storm: Part 4

Chapter 20

The Murder in the Storm

Part 4: The Final Stretch

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Shade stands up, now starting to fall apart, the same moment Crow does. All of his body is doing what the impaled part was, as particles chunk off endlessly. Shade and Crow stare at each other; now in the forms they met each other in just two hours and fifty-five minutes ago. They stand on the parallel sides of the tower. Every wall between them is merely rubble. Shade's red abyss eyes cut through the shadow of the tower like knives, as Crow stares back. His eyes are abysses of gray, and equal magnitude. They stare at each other in fear, pure hatred, and the feelings of betrayal.

"This is it…" Crow mutters.

"… The final stretch of this fight…" Shade continues.

"And only one will die here…" They both say at the same time, "And it won't be me."

They both burst forward, their weapons in hand. They clash, and sparks shoot in all directions. They both push forward, and they glare into the eyes of the other.

In Shade's eyes, Crow sees the bowels of hell; forever burning, and a vile evil lingers inside. He sees a man who had slain a million innocents, and killed his friends. He saw a man he could never offer forgiveness.

In Crow's eyes, Shade sees light; Pure, bright, and virtuous. It makes him sick. The same virtuous light he saw in the eyes of the men who killed Tamuril. The false feeling of accomplishment that the all had for killing an innocent woman, just because she loved a man who was hated. He feels that if Crow were to die with that look in his eyes, he would once again get revenge on humanity.

And if he died… Well, then he would destroy humanity.

"You fucker!" Crow screams, slamming into him, and knocking him back.

Shade falls. He is weak from before. He had taken a lot of serious blows that could have even killed Trigon in an instant. He stumbles back to his feet, and draws the Shade blade.

"You are pure fucking evil!" Crow screams, as eh slams the Scythe into him.

"True…" Shade says, and he looks up. Suddenly, the dark matter begins to seep up the Scythe. "And I forgot that I can just absorb you and just get stronger…"

Crow drops his weapon, and it disappears. Shade stands up once again. "And I'd gain your abilities, and every single one I didn't have…" Suddenly, he disappears, and two of him appears.

"How…" Crow asks, fear in his eyes.

"Beast boy. I merely turned into an amoeba, and split. Then my forms returned to normal size." One Shade says.

"And now, we can double Team…" the other says.

Crow smirks. "Two can play at that game…" Suddenly, he screams, and splits. He stands beside The Murder. The two attack the Shade copies, and strike with a fury.

"Uh-uh-uh…" One taunts. Suddenly, its dark matter disappears, and it reveals a demonic looking Beast Boy. "You don't want to hurt me, do you? Buddy?"

The Murder smashes its head in, and it screams, merging back with Shade. Suddenly The Murder disappears.

"I'll only use that if you duplicate… It takes a lot out of me…" He says, as he pummels Shade.

The two of them fisticuff throughout the tower. They seem to do nothing to the other except for tire them out. Suddenly the stop, exhausted in the middle of one of the halls.

"You monster…" Crow insults, he can barely move, and sweat falls down his face.

"Human bastard…" Shade insults back, in the same condition.

The two of them fall to their knees, unable to fight. Shade then reverts back to his form that had no tentacles.

"Azarath," Crow gasps, "Metreon… Zinthi…" Suddenly, gray energy surrounds Shade's body. Crow sends him flying into one wall. "All I need to do is beak the eye…" He says, as he draws his Scythe, and holds it like a baseball bat. "And then he's dead…"

Crow notices that they are on the opposite side of the hall from where Raven is, and the rest of the building is utterly destroyed. "Two more minutes, Raven…" He pants. There is one minute until sunrise, and he swings at Shade's chest.

"GAME OVER!" He screams, as the scythe cuts through the air, hurtling toward Shade's chest.

* * *

Raven sits in the main room, on her knees. "Two more minutes."

This is the only room left standing. The door is closed, and she is crying.

She heard so many sounds. Crashes, screams; it was driving her crazy. She was afraid to watch telepathically. She hated to see Crow as The Murder.

But she had nothing to fear. No one could possibly kill her. There is almost one minute left, and sunrise is so close. The sky is orange on the horizon, and she can see it seeping closer. She shuts the window. Her eyes hurt, because she had been running in darkness all night.

She hears footsteps. They sounded hurt, and she could hear blood dropping. Her back was turned, and she sighed in relief. The presence, she could feel, was really fatigued.

It had to be him. Shade wouldn't present himself in such a sloppy manner. She smiled. "Crow… Is it over…"

She merely heard panting. She turned, and merely saw Darke. He was bleeding, battered and his leg was fucked up.

"CROW!" She screamed. Everything was silent.

Darke merely catches his breath. He returns into his Shade form. She notices his hand is out of the room. He pulls it in, and tosses something her way.

She looks down to see the severed head of Crow. His hair is torn, and he's covered in cuts.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"Only a minute left…" He says, drawing the Shade Blade, "I need to make this quick…"

He lunges forward, "YOUR ZINTHOS DOESN'T WORK AGAINST ME!"

"AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!" Raven screams, and Gray energy surrounds Shade's body.

"WHAT! BUT YOU CAN'T USE THAT SPELL!"

"I can, and I did…" Raven says, darkly. "And now, you're dead…" She says, as an alarm goes off.

"NO!" Shade screams in fear, as she pulls a chord and the curtain opens.

She closes her eyes, as sunlight pours into the room. Shade screams in a high-pitched screech, as he begins to smoke, and his skin bubbles.

Raven turns, as a burst of light fills the room, and half of the tower is obliterated. She turns, as she sees the open part of the tower.

The tower is in the shape of an upside down "L" and half is completely destroyed. She turns around, and falls to her knees, crying.

"I lived… They'll all come back now… He promised… and they all will return to life…"

She closes her eyes, and thinks of the bliss of having her friends back. She is lost in the moment, and the silence, completely happy, with tears of joy running down her face. However, she never re-opens her eyes, as the feeling of bliss is too great for her to realize what else is going on around her. She was so caught up in joy that she didn't notice the sword stabbing in her back; or of Shade holding the sword in her back completely unscathed.

"Foolish kid. _I don't die_…" shade pulls the sword out of her back and admires the crimson color.

"Game Over"


	21. Epilogue: Dreams

Epilogue

Dreams

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

GxJxR

* * *

Raven gasps for air. She is floating in entire darkness. Cold and alone, she curls into a fetal position.

'_Is this death? But I won… we should…_' she cries in silence, when suddenly, she gasps for more air.

She looks around, and lay in bed. She looks around. Everything is fine. The walls are still there, and nothing is damaged. It's as if she never woke up because of Beast Boy in the first place.

She stumbles out of her bed, walking into the main room, where the other Titans and Crow stand. Crow's hair is the same as it was on his severed head and he has a scar around his neck, Beast Boy has a black blotch on his neck, Cyborg is charred slightly, Robin (who is shirtless) has a scar over his heart, and Starfire's skin has multiple scars on assorted parts of her body.

"What happened?" She asks the others.

"Raven!" Starfire gleefully hugs her, "I am so happy to see you unharmed!" She laughs.

"We don't know…" Cyborg says, "One minute I explode, and the next one I'm in my bed."

"At least you guys got to wake up! I had to watch you all die before I woke up!" Beast Boy says. "The guy fucking absorbs me, and I have to wait until you're all dead before I wake!"

"Sorry Beast Boy, it must have been hard…" Robin says, and he turns to Crow. "What happened to you?"

"Decapitation. I hit the eye, and then it turned out that it is indestructible," he sighs.

"Well, it wasn't a dream…" Raven says, "You all have scars…" She feels a pain in her back, and feels a scar. "_We_ all have scars…"

"Yes, that's the funny thing about alternate realities…" a voice says from the doorway, "They affect the person permanently, and the person is thrown back to the real one after death." Darke steps out from the doorway, and smiles.

"You're trying to tell me, that you made a whole alternate Earth just so you could kill us, and keep us from dying!" Robin asks in anger.

"Yeah. I kill me!" He laughs, and he taps him on the forehead.

"Why did you do that?" Starfire asks, "Why keep us alive. Surely we will only get in your way…"

"Yeah, that's true. I really wanted to use that as _practice_…" Darke says.

"Practice!" Beast Boy asks, confused.

"Well, of course. I need to know how you fight, and you should know how I do. It's simple, and gives us both equal terms to fight on at another time. Except for you Starfire. That was really foolish back there…" He says, in a friendly tone.

"But…" Raven starts.

"Sunlight doesn't really kill me. I'm just can maneuver better in the dark, is all."

"You're twisted…" Cyborg says.

"And you're alive," Darke states, smiling, "Next time, I won't hold back; it'll be for real."

"Next time!" Robin asks.

"Yes. I still intend on killing all humans," Darke says, seriously. He turns into Shade, and walks off, "I _will_ kill you all eventually. Just that time, I won't do it out of hate, but out of necessity. If you were alive, you would work against me, and my world order. But I don't want it to get between us, my killing you and all. I still want to stay _friends_ with you all. In fact, I don't _want_ to kill you, and if I could I'd let you stay alive. I merely want to get it out that when I do kill you all, it's nothing against you personally. I like you all a lot."

"That's _nice_ to hear," Beast boy says sarcastically, "that you have nothing against us while you kill us…"

"Yeah," He says, as he phases through the wall, and stops halfway, "oh, and Crow, I forgive you, and I hope you forgive me too." He laughs, and walks off.

"And don't worry," He yells back from behind the wall, "I promise not to kill you in your sleep, because I want you to see it!"

The Titans sit in the room, completely baffled, and lost for words.

"This guy is the freaky…" Starfire says, breaking the silence.

"It's good to know he has morals," Cyborg says sarcastically, "Not kill us in our sleep…"

"You know, if you look past his wanting to kill humanity, he'd make a nice guy…" Beast Boy points out.

"He tried to make you kill me. He killed us all, and he's going to do it again. He wants to kill humanity… Nice guy my ass…" Crow mutters, cursing wildly afterward.

"I fear what tomorrow has in store for us…" Robin spills out, get to bed."

The Titans split up, going into their selective bedrooms.

Raven slips into bed with Crow beside her. Crow falls asleep almost instantly, and Raven sits in bed wide-awake. It's only twenty minutes after they had met Shade when the whole incident started, all of that battle being a distant dream to the Titans for now.

Raven shivers, and stands up. She goes over to the other side of the room, and feels around the wall. She finds something she had never used in all her stay in the tower. There is a click, and her lights turn on.

Raven shuffles uncomfortably as she adjusts to the light, and closes her eyes.

She fears the dark.

**The End**


End file.
